Naruto: Chosen Vessel
by BlueGlass54
Summary: Iruka's early demise changes everything. Watch as Naruto grows into a legend with the help and support of his teammates and sensei. AU
1. the night everything changed

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

**chapter 1**

**the night everything changed**

"_Good thing I'm such an awesome ninja. Bet Sasuke-teme wouldn't be able to do something like this._" one Uzumaki Naruto thought to himself as he held his body up flat against the ceiling, left hand gripped tightly around the corner of a wooden support beam. His right held the lockpicks he hadn't had time to put away, and clutched between his feet was all the scroll Mizuki-sensei had given him with a map of guard patrol routes and a drawing of his mission target.

The blonde ninja-to-be held this pose, making no noise except for the near-silent breathing and heartbeat that he himself could barely hear, for a further thirty seconds until the passing chunin patrol guard was sure to be out of earshot then dropped silently to the floor. "Hehehe," he chuckled to himself quietly, "no one ever thinks to look up." He might get in trouble for his pranks, but he learned a lot more from them than he ever would have just listening to Iruka-sensei's boring lectures. Nine minutes fifty four seconds left until the next guard got there. More than enough time to finish up the door lock, find the scroll, and get out of the building. He started up with the lockpicks again, now that he was alone.

As alone as he could ever be, at any rate. The Other was always there, whispering quietly into his head, urging him to rip, tear, kill, to set it free upon the world and have power beyond his wildest imaginations. No, whisper wasn't quite the right word. It wasn't an actual voice, more like a constant feeling, tugging at the back of his mind. It was in him but not a part of him, not _supposed_ to be there, and nothing good would ever come from listening to it. He knew that as instinctively as he knew kindness was good, or ramen the best food ever.

He had never told anyone about the Other, not even Hokage-jiji. But people clearly knew anyway. Why else would all the adults act like he didn't exist? It used to get to him sometimes, the cold glares, the way everyone pretended he wasn't even there until he did something he could be punished for. Things had been bad back then, before he promised himself he wouldn't cry anymore, before he chose to be a ninja, before he made himself always look at things opti... opti... positively.

Now, though, he couldn't _not_ look at things positively, pretty much all the time. Now, he had a goal to work towards. Now, the nightmares weren't so bad.

The nightmares were another thing he had never told anyone about. He knew the Other caused them, every single night, and even now (though he would _never_ admit it to anyone but himself) they still terrified him. Konoha in flames, everyone he knew, and everyone he didn't know, dying before his very eyes night after night, and the Other laughing and forcing pure joy into his brain when he felt like vomiting. Because he was always the one causing it. All the death and mayhem.

The soft _'click'_ of the lock releasing drew the blonde from his thoughts. The door had taken longer than he had thought, only seven minutes, six seconds left. Naruto silently opened the door and, making his way into the room, looked around, making sure to close the door bind him just in case. While this blocked out the light from the hallway, the moonlight from the small window (just a bit too small to have worked as an entry point) on the far side of the room was more than enough for his sharp eyes to make out the details. "_How the hell am I supposed to find one scroll in all of these?_" He only just remembered not to shout out his frustration. The whole room was filled with shelves upon shelves of scrolls, many of which were coated in dust.

"_Okay, think Naruto. What did Mizuki-sensei say about where to find it? '_it's on a shelf about sixteen feet back and four feet to the left when you go through the door,_' I'm a bit under five feet tall, so that shelf there!_" The blonde had always had trouble relating numbers to distance, something about it just never agreed with him; it was one of the reasons he always failed the written tests at the Academy, along with the questions usually being about the boring stuff he never paid attention to. He rushed over to said shelf and started searching through the fifty four scrolls it held, looking for any that matched the drawing. Seven minutes, four seconds left.

The dust that he was stirring up from the scrolls irritated his sensitive nose. Konoha's prankster king barely caught himself in time to keep from sneezing. The sound of the reflexive sharp intake of air, however, was picked up by the ears of a certain old man who just happened to be passing by.

"Naruto? What are you doing here so late at night?" The boy leapt eight feet in the air in surprise, or he would have, had the ceiling not been only ten feet high. As it was, his head rammed hard up against the stone ceiling before he fell back to the floor, landing squarely on his backside. He knew the voice right away, and turning around only confirmed it. He hadn't managed to sense the old Hokage coming at all "_guess he didn't get the job for nothing_"

"Oww... Jiji, don't sneak up on me like that! As for why I'm here, well, you see, umm... Orioke no Jutsu!"

"_Or maybe he did get the job for nothing_" the blonde thought as he undid his henge, the old man now soundly unconscious. He went back to sorting through scrolls, a bit more quickly now as he was starting to run out of time. Only five minutes, forty two seconds left, and he needed at least three minutes to get out of the building.

_There!_ That was the Forbidden Scroll, an exact match to the drawing. Strapping the huge roll of paper to his back, Naruto turned around and swiftly made his way out of the building. There was only the one guard in this section, and he wasn't nearby, so Naruto sprinted straight for the window he had used to get in, not taking too much care to soften his footfalls. He needed to be far away by the time Jiji woke up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto let his body fall backwards onto the grass, exhausted but happy. He had learned his one jutsu and now just needed to wait for Mizuki-sensei to come test him on it.

Two minutes later, after which the blonde's body had recovered somewhat, another person entered the small clearing. Someone not Mizuki-sensei.

"Ha! I found you, Iruka-sensei!"

"You idiot!" shouted the scar-faced chunin"_I _found_ you_!"

The blonde sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Hehe... I guess you did. Anyway, I managed to learn one jutsu from this scroll, so now I just have to show it to you and I can graduate, right? Right, Iruka-sensei?"

This statement was more than enough to confirm the Academy instructor's suspicions. The boy was being used. "Graduate? Naruto, who told you that?"

"Mizuki-sensei did! He told me about this scroll and how I could still graduate if I just learned a jutsu from it, then he told me where to find it and even gave me a map complete with guard routes! See?" The short blonde was clearly overjoyed with his success, and Iruka was not in the least looking forward to what he would have to explain to the boy he had grown so attached to. Fortunately, he was saved having to do this. Unfortunately, the thing that saved him was ten kunais flying straight towards the two of them.

Naruto, his body still recovering from the intense training he had just gone through, saw the kunais coming but was unable to react in time. Instead Iruka-sensei shoved him out of the way, leaving the man himself with no time to dodge the oncoming sharp metal objects. He was able to keep himself from any bad injuries, though. After making sure his sensei wasn't badly hurt, the blonde turned to face the bastard who had just attacked them, only to find himself _very_ confused. It was Mizuki-sensei. Mizuki-sensei had just tried to kill both of them.

"Good job finding the idiot."

"I see, so that's what's going on."

"Naruto, give me the scroll."

"Naruto! Whatever happens, don't give him the scroll! It's filled with dangerous jutsu! Mizuki used you to get his hands on it!"

In the back of his brain, the Other was getting louder.

"Naruto... There's no point in you having that scroll. I'll tell you the truth."

"NO! NO DON'T!"

"You know about the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago, right?"

"MIZUKI! STOP THIS!"

"What you don't know is that, that same day, a law was made, a law that only you, Naruto, are not allowed to know about."

"NARUTO! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

The Other was screaming now, so loud that it should have been drowning out everything, but somehow the voices of his two senseis, one terrified, loud, and panicked, the other calm, smooth, and triumphant, still reached him perfectly clearly.

"A law that no one is to say that you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

"_Monster"_

"_Riptearkill"_

"_Stay away from him!"_

"_Riptearkill!"_

"_You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"_

"_**Riptearkill!"**_

"_**The Kyuubi no Kitsune!"**_

"_**RIPTEARKILL!"**_

"_**-"**_

"SHUT UP!"

For the briefest of moments, there was nothing. Even the Othe- no, the Kyuubi, was silent. But it was too brief.

"What's wrong? Does the little demon not want to accept what he really is? Well I don't care! SO HURRY UP AND DIE, KYUUBI!" He could see the giant shuriken clearly as it flew through the air towards him. Dodging out of the way wouldn't have been difficult, but did he really want to? If Uzumaki Naruto died tonight, no one would really miss him. Sure Jiji, Iruka-sensei, old man Ichiraku, and Ayame-neechan would probably be sad for a little while, but they had other people in their lives. They'd move on. No one else would really care. Hell, half the village would probably celebrate.

Wouldn't it be worth giving up his life to fully remove the Kyuubi from this world? He wouldn't even have to do anything, just stand there and let Mizuki's oversized shuriken cleave through his neck. It would all be over soon.

"_**schlick"**_

There was the unmistakable sound of metal sliding into flesh, but the sudden burst of pain the blonde had expected never came. He was still alive.

It took him a moment to realize what had just happened. "I-Iruka-sensei? Why?"

The scarred chunin, his face only inches from Naruto's own, was smiling, crying, and trying to hold back his pain all at once. "I-I understand... a bit of what you've been through. When my parents died, I... no one really seemed to care about me. I would act like an idiot, just to... get people's attention. I was never very good in school, so it was all I could do to make people notice me. But the whole time... I was always in so much pain. It must have been so painful for you too, Naruto, right? I'm so very sorry... If I had just paid a bit more attention, maybe you wouldn't have had to hurt so much..."

"HA! Don't lie to the damn Kyuubi-brat, Iruka! You hate him just as much as I do! HE'S THE ONE THAT KILLED YOUR PARENTS IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

The young demon container was horribly confused. He didn't know who to believe or what to think, so he did the only thing he could. He ran.

He ran and ran, as fast and as far away as he could, until he remembered that running away had never solved anything before and slumped up against the base of a tree. For the first time he could ever remember, he was completely lost.

He had no idea of how long he spent just sitting there, trying to figure things out, the Kyuubi tearing away at the back of his mind, until a voice returned him to the real world. "H-How, Naruto? How did you know... -poof- ...I wasn't Iruka?"

"Because... -poof- ...I'm Iruka."

"Iruka, you sicken me. You'd even transform into the monster that killed your parents in order to protect him."

"I'll never let someone like you get their hands on the Forbidden Scroll!"

"You idiot! Naruto's the same as me! With the secrets in that scroll, you can do anything! There's no way the Kyuubi wouldn't use that kind of power!"

"You're right..."

Still behind the tree, having not moved an inch the entire time, Naruto felt like his heart had just broken. "_So that's it, then. Even Iruka-sensei, deep down, doesn't acknowledge me._"

"The Kyuubi would do something like that. But Naruto's different. He's one of my students! He may not be the best, but he always tries hard, and he never gives up! People may not accept him, but he knows what it's like to be in pain, and he's still here! He's not the Kyuubi at all! He's a future ninja of Konoha! He's Uzumaki Naruto!"

Iruka-sensei's words were like a bowl of fresh ramen to someone about to starve to death. No way could he just give up now! Not after everything he'd gone through. Not now that Iruka-sensei had finally accepted him. Kill himself? That wouldn't solve anything.

"Whatever," it was Mizuki-teme talking now, "Iruka, I was going to get rid of you later, but now I've changed my mind! JUST DIE!"

The young ninja-in-training didn't even think about it. He launched himself around the tree and, seeing the pale-haired bastard running at his sensei with his second giant shuriken ready for the kill, leapt directly in his path. It was so sudden that the traitorous jerk didn't even have time to react until after Naruto's foot had firmly implanted itself in his gut, sending them both flying in different directions.

"Why you little-"

"Don't you dare lay a finger on Iruka-sensei! OR I'LL KILL YOU!" He could feel himself overflowing with rage. The Kyuubi was laughing, but there was no way he was going to give in to that bastard kitsune, even if he did end up killing Mizuki-teme. He was Uzumaki Naruto, damn it, and there was no way he was going to lose to some oversized furball!

"Ha! A stupid failure like you? I'll kill you in one hit!"

"Just try it, you worthless piece of trash! I'll deal back any pain you give me a thousand times over!"

"THEN DO IT, KYUUBI!"

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

There was a huge burst of smoke, and suddenly over a thousand grinning Narutos littered the area. Mizuki-teme was too terrified to even speak.

"What's wrong?" all the clones said at once, "Weren't you going to kill me in one hit? No? Well then, I'll go first!"

Nearly fifteen minutes later, the boy's white-haired former instructor was little more than a bleeding, twitching lump of bruises on the ground. Daylight was beginning to creep into the sky. "Hehe, I guess I went a little too far." He gave Iruka-sensei a sheepish grin.

"Naruto, come over here a minute." The scar-faced chunin was still sitting propped up against the tree. That wound in his back must have really been hurting him.

"I wanted to say thank you, Naruto, for saving my life," he was slowly making his way to his feet as he spoke, "and tell you how proud I am of you for being who you are."

"Whaddya mean, Iruka-sensei? I should be the one thanking you. After Mizuki-teme told me about the fox, I was about ready to just let myself die. You saved me by believing in me back there. I'd do anything to keep that belief."

The man smiled. "Okay, I've decided. Close your eyes, I'm going to give you a present."

Naruto could hear what sounded like Iruka-sensei fiddling with some kind of cloth. After a moment, the sound stopped. "Can i open my eyes now?"

"Go ahead." The blonde opened his eyes to see Iruka-sensei's smiling face, his own goggles held in the man's hand. Wait, if he had the goggles, then what was that on his forehead? And where was Iruka-sensei's...?

Hardly daring to believe it could be true, Naruto slowly moved his hand up to the object tied around his forehead, his fingers tracing the cool metal and the symbol of Konoha etched into it.

This was what it felt like to really be happy, completely happy. He found himself smiling, not the usual ear-to-ear grin, or the smirk he had whenever he got a good idea for a prank, but a real, warm, open smile of true joy.

"Congratulations. You graduate. Let's celebrate; I'll take you to Ichiraku Ramen."

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted, preparing to throw himself at the man and hug him and hug him and never ever let him go.

That was when it happened.

He heard it. The distinctive, unmistakable whistling sound of a kunai cutting through the air. He turned towards it. Too close. Too fast. No time to dodge. Then, again, Iruka-sensei was there, somehow, taking the sharp blade right in his shoulder.

Mizuki had regained consciousness just long enough to throw that one deadly knife before passing out again. Iruka-sensei stumbled.

He would have toppled over had Naruto not been there. The young ninja caught him and gently laid him down on the grass. "Iruka-sensei, what's wrong? Will you be okay? Should I take you to the hospital? I-"

"No -cough- No time. Poison... ...fast-acting. -cough- -cough- Naruto... I... I'll always... ...believe in you. -cough Become Hokage... ...you can..."

"I-Iruka-sensei? Iruka-sensei? No, please, don't leave me! Not now that I'm just getting to know you! IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"Heh... ...look at that. The Kyuubi brat crying over... ...the body of his dead teacher. How sweet."

Naruto spun to face the voice, Mizuki's voice. He could feel the tears streaming from his eyes, down his cheeks, across the whisker-like birthmarks that identified him to the world as the container of the Kyuubi. "I'm going to kill you."

It was strange. He should have been burning with anger and rage like he was before, but he wasn't. His mind had gone through too much in too short a time, and all he could feel was his grief, a strange calmness, and an absolute certainty that he was going to kill the monster in front of him.

Naruto just stood there, glaring at the man relentlessly with blue eyes colder and harder than ice. Even as Mizuki got to his feet and started searching through his pouch for something, the boy didn't move. He did nothing as the man found what he was looking for, a vial full of a strange red substance, and drank it. As his muscles expanded to enormous sizes, tearing his clothes apart, Naruto simply kept his piercing blue eyes trained on Mizuki's. As his body changed even further, and he became some sort of tiger-man, and he laughed and started shouting about how he would crush everything in his way with the power given to him by Orochimaru-sama, the blonde kept up his calm, cold stare.

Then the tiger-man charged.

Naruto summoned up all his chakra.

He could still remember, perfectly clearly, one day in their second year when Iruka-sensei had mentioned to the class about chakra overload

"_Just like there is chakra exhaustion, there is also chakra overload. If a ninja has more chakra flowing around inside his or her body than it can handle, then the body will start to tear itself apart from the inside as all that chakra tries to escape. Unlike chakra exhaustion, chakra overload is extremely rare, as it requires massive amounts of chakra on a level most Kages never even have. So far, in the history of the Ninja world, there have only been two recorded cases of chakra overload. The first was in..."_

Naruto had no doubts that chakra overload was what he was now experiencing. It felt like his entire body was slowly burning up from the inside out. Hell, he was actually _glowing_ with a soft blue-white light from every part of his body. At the same time, though, he felt powerful, like he could pick up the Hokage tower and move it to a new location if he wanted to.

The beast-man he had once called sensei seemed to be moving in slow motion, like he was underwater.

Naruto ran across the two yards remaining between them and punched him directly in the center of the chest, holding nothing back. He felt more than saw as Mizuki's entire body just... crumpled? exploded? fell apart? (it was hard to tell) around the spot he had made contact. Sure that the man was now dead (he had felt his heart explode) he let the chakra go and slipped into unconsciousness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

Not a whole lot going on in this chapter. The opening scene is pretty much just introducing my Naruto, showing how he's similar to yet different from canon Naruto at the start of the series, most noticeably his connection with the Kyuubi.

After that comes a scene that (hopefully) everyone recognizes, mostly taken straight from canon. Nothing much to say about it.

Finally, we have the twist. _Very _few stories take the route of killing Iruka. The first one I read to do this (and the inspiration for doing it myself) is "Kyouchouriki" by Koinugami. Anyone interested can find him on my favorite authors list.

And the chapter ends with Naruto, overcome with grief to the point where he's gone beyond emotion, killing Mizuki and almost killing himself.


	2. coping

**chapter 2**

**coping**

White everywhere. That meant either the hospital or Heaven. Everything was still too muddled to get any more clues as to where he was.

Wait, he could still sense the Kyuubi pawing away at his mind. Damn. The hospital, then. Naruto _hated_ the hospital.

"You're awake."

"Jiji?" Talking hurt. So did turning his head to see that yes, it was the Hokage who was in the room with him.

"Try not to move, Naruto. Your body is still recovering. You should consider yourself lucky: anyone else would probably be dead after pulling off what you did back in the forest."

Details started to filter in. Mostly it was the pain, the severe ache throughout his entire body. And not the good kind of ache like he would have after a long day of hard physical training, but the other kind of ache, where everything is just that constant, slight pain that you can't ignore and that won't go away.

The next important detail he registered was that he was still wearing the forehead protector. His forehead protector. Iruka-sensei's forehead protector. He could feel the cool metal through the cloth on his forehead. It felt nice.

"You should know, I saw everything that happened from when Iruka found you on. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have been able to get there in time to be of any use."

"Your crystal ball?" Jiji had shown him the object once when he was younger, explaining how he could use it to see anywhere within the village walls.

The old man nodded.

"Then I'm still a ninja?" He started to gesture to the headband, but stopped when attempting to move his arm made the pain a hundred times worse.

"Yes, you're still a ninja, Naruto. In fact, I dare say you have more right to wear that headband than a great many of the people who call themselves 'ninjas'."

"R-Really?" Honest praise like that from Jiji was something very rarely given out.

The aged Hokage's soft smile was answer enough.

Then his expression turned serious. "Now, I'm assuming you have some questions for me." The blonde demon container knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Yeah, the Kyuubi. So what's the deal, Jiji? Am I, like, the fox-"

"No. That man did not understand what he was talking about, Naruto. The night the Kyuubi attacked, the only way of stopping it was to seal it away, and the only thing strong enough to contain a demon with that level of power was a newborn baby. The Kyuubi is inside you, but it is not you."

The boy took a moment to absorb the information. It was just confirmation of what he had already thought, but it was good to have. "And the law? What about that?"

"After seeing the way the village reacted to what had happened, I realized that no one who knew the truth about the fox was going to be able to treat you like a normal person. So I made that law, that no one is allowed to talk about it, to keep the other children your age from finding out. I wanted to give you a chance with the rest of your generation."

Naruto spent a good bit longer thinking about this answer. And it was while he was thinking that he realized just what Hokage-jiji was trying to do. He was trying to keep the blonde's mind off of what had happened to Iruka-sensei for as long as he could, because even something as terrible as the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune was nowhere near as painful as the emptiness he felt thinking of the scarred chunin instructor.

Along with the shift in his thoughts, his face shifted as well, ever so slightly, into a look of deep sadness. His normally bright blue eyes seemed to dim. "When is the funeral?"

The old man looked sad as well, now. "Tomorrow, at one."

"Thank you."

They both stayed silent for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

"I-I can feel it, Jiji. My whole life, as long as I can remember, there's been this constant feeling in the back of my head, this _wrongness_, inside my mind, telling me to hurt, and kill, and... When I was younger, I would sometimes use it to decide what to do. I'd listen to what it told me and do the exact opposite. Because, even though it's inside my head, I can just tell that it's not _supposed_ to be there, it's not _right_. I never told you, or anyone, about it, because... well, because I was scared of how you'd react. Now, though, I finally have a name for it, at least."

More silence.

"Jiji, why didn't you ever tell me?"

The Hokage sighed. "I wanted to be sure you would be able to handle knowing. Information is one of the most powerful and dangerous things in the world. Had I told you before you were ready to know, you might have reacted badly, maybe even killed yourself, or..."

That made sense. After all, that had been his immediate reaction on finding out.

"Can I have some time to rest?"

"Certainly, Naruto."

When the old Hokage left, the boy closed his eyes, but he didn't sleep. Sleeping would mean nightmares, and what he needed right now was just time to think.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to his office after a very enlightening conversation with his favorite new genin. He wasn't supposed to be biased, of course, but he just couldn't help it. That boy had the best qualities of both his parents along with something else, entirely unique to himself. The Sandaime couldn't quite identify just what it was. But it was blindingly clear that Naruto would grow up to be a ninja like no other, provided he was able to survive the experience.

The blonde was dealing with everything that had happened surprisingly well, it seemed. After the way he had been immediately after losing Iruka, Hiruzen had feared the boy's mind had finally broken under the pressure of so much happening all at once. Fortunately, that was not the case. Though the blonde not asking for ramen could be taken as a disturbing sign.

The news that Naruto could, and in fact had always been able to, sense the Kyuubi's presence within himself had come as something of a shock. He was rather unclear about just how strong the connection between boy and demon was, though. He would need to ask more about it later.

Also, there was the matter of just what had happened when the blonde had killed Mizuki. Not the man's sudden transformation, no. That had had all the hallmarks of one of his former student's sick experiments, and the ex-taijutsu instructor had even admitted that Orochimaru had been the source. What didn't quite make sense was what had happened with Naruto. Even with the chakra overload the blonde had clearly been experiencing, his physical strength could not have realistically been boosted that far. It was nearly on par with what Tsunade was capable of. If only she herself were to examine the boy... The doctors who had looked at him could find nothing out of the ordinary besides the expected: denser-than-normal bones and muscles, the extraordinary healing rate, and the multiple impossibilities about his metabolism. And of course the ridiculous amount of chakra he had and the unprecedented method his body had developed to handle it. But none of the medics currently in Konoha were anywhere near her level. There could have been something they just were not able to detect.

Sitting down at his desk, the aged Hokage looked at all the paperwork that had piled up and sighed. That really wasn't his priority at the moment. With Iruka gone, he did not expect the remaining members of the senior Academy staff to make good decisions about team placement, especially considering how the new batch of genin contained not just one, but two students who had always incited large amounts of bias. It would be up to him to decide the arrangements himself, then.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was about five hours later when Hokage-jiji came back. Naruto had had enough time to sort things out in his mind, and the pain was mostly gone. He was sitting up now, his legs dangling over the side of the bed. "Hey, Jiji. When can I get out of here? Wait, scratch that. How long have I even been here?"

The old man grinned. "You were brought in about fourteen hours ago. The doctors said you can leave whenever you feel ready, but they strongly recommend that you not engage in any strenuous physical activity for at least the next twenty four hours, to be sure you are fully recovered."

"Stupid doctors and their stupid big words," Naruto grumbled while going over what the Hokage had said in his mind, a bit more slowly. "So basically, I shouldn't train till tomorrow evening, right?"

The grin turned into a smile. "That's right."

"Well why didn't ya just say that, then? Stupid Jiji..." He muttered to himself for a few seconds about mean old men making things more complicated before coming up with an idea. "Oh! I know! I'll go to Ichiraku Ramen! Wanna join me, Jiji?"

He chuckled. "I would love to, Naruto, but I have lots of paperwork waiting to be finished back at the Tower."

The most powerful ninja in the village was being stopped by some pieces of paper? Now that was just plain crazy. "Well, why don't you make someone else do the paperwork for you? Or invent a Paperwork no Jutsu, or... I got it! Use a shadow clone! That way, you can do the paperwork and take me out to ramen at the same time!"

A second later, the Hokage fainted, a look of triumph on his face. "Hey, Jiji! Jiji? Umm... DOCTOR!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto had never really thought about the one set of black formal wear he had mixed in with all the orange, white, blue, and red that filled the rest of his closet. Not until now. Now, standing with many others all dressed the same way.

The forehead protector (his? Iruka-sensei's? He wasn't sure) was tied around his neck. His classmates and himself made up the first two rows. He stood closest to the coffin. None of them questioned it. They may not have liked him very much, but they couldn't deny that it was the blonde boy their teacher had the closest relationship with.

Right next to him was a space where Jiji had been standing a moment before. He was wearing black, too. It was the first time Naruto had seen him not in his Hokage robes and hat. Behind them were rows upon rows of other people. People he had seen occasionally at the Academy. People he might have glimpsed once or twice around Konoha. People he had never laid eyes on. All of them had known Iruka-sensei.

He had counted. Four hundred eighty seven. Four hundred eighty seven people who had all known him in some way. For once in his life, Naruto almost wished they were glaring at him. At any other time, most of them would. Because even those cold glares were better than the sadness he had seen in their eyes. Even now, with them standing behind him, he could feel it. The grief. The loss.

"We are gathered here today to mourn the death of Umino Iruka. We all knew him in some way, be it as friends, coworkers, or students. As such, it is only fair that you all know how he died. He gave his own life to save a fellow Konoha ninja. Two nights ago, Toki Mizuki betrayed the village and attempted to run away with a scroll filled with forbidden jutsu. Iruka and another ninja met him near training ground thirty six and killed him, but not before Iruka took a poisoned kunai meant for his partner.

"Iruka was an amazing man and a true Konoha ninja. But I am sure that what he would most want to be remembered for is the gift he has given to all his students. He poured his heart and soul into his teaching. As such, it would be most appropriate for those same students he always cared so deeply for to be the ones to speak about him. Any of you who wish to say something about Iruka, please come up here and do so."

As the Hokage walked back down to stand next to Naruto, one of the girls, Kasumi, was the first to step forward. She talked, sometimes only just barely holding back her tears, about how he had always been there whenever she had trouble with a jutsu or concept, or even just to talk to. More followed after her, all talking about Iruka-sensei and the ways he had influenced their lives. Even Shikamaru, Shino, and Sasuke went up and said something.

During the middle of all this, Naruto spoke quietly, never moving or turning his head. "Jiji, why do people give their lives for others?"

The old man seemed to think about this for a moment before answering just as quietly. "When someone dies, he disappears, along with his past, his current lifestyle, and his future. Many people die before they should. They die easily and unexpectedly, in surprisingly simple ways. The people who die have goals and dreams. But they each have something else just as important. Family, friends, lovers. People who are important to you. You trust and help each other. The bond between you and those important to you grows thicker and stronger as time goes by. It is beyond reason. Those bound to you by that bond will gladly give their lives for those they care about. Because it is important to them."

"Yeah, I think I get that, a bit. But... It's painful when someone dies."

"I know, Naruto, I know. You just have to remember what it is Iruka gave his life _for_."

"I... I think I get that too. Thanks, Jiji."

Finally, everyone else had gone, leaving Naruto with no way to put it off any longer. Slowly, he made his way up the stand. He looked out at the four hundred and eighty six other people, all looking right back at him. Everyone there had the same expression on his or her face, himself included. He took a deep breath before letting the words flow.

"I've had a lot of time to think about what to say, and I've come to a decision. I'm gonna start off with a confession. Iruka-sensei died because of me."

There were sharp intakes of breath and looks of confusion, most coming from his classmates. The adults, for the most part, must have already been able to put the pieces together. After a moment, everyone quieted down.

"I was the other ninja Jiji mentioned, the one he gave his life to protect. This _is _his forehead protector around my neck, that he gave to me just minutes before. I'm not gonna go into details, though, cause how he died isn't really important. What's important, what would be important to Iruka-sensei, was how he _lived,_ and what he left us.

"You all knew him. What d'you think he'd say if he saw us all like this, standing around and moping? Cause the Iruka-sensei I knew would've made us all run laps for being so gloomy!"

People chuckled, and he saw some nods of agreement.

"He'd want us to remember him by remembering the things he taught us, not just about how to be a ninja, but about how to be a person! And he taught us a lot, even when we ignored him, or slep through his lectures, _Shikamaru_."

"Hey, hey! Most of that stuff was really boring. And don't you pretend you didn't sleep in class sometimes, too. Troublesome blondes..."

"What was that, Shika?" Ino felt the need to add in.

Naruto decided he needed to settle everyone down before they all broke out into a babble of conversations. "Oi! I'm still talking here!"

Amazingly, they listened.

"I think the most important thing he gave us all, though, was his will to get what he wanted. He lost his parents in the Kyuubi attack, when he was no older than I am now. After that, he was all alone. Everyone was so caught up in their own loss, their own pain, or in keeping the village as a whole going that there was no time to spare for one poor orphan boy. But he didn't give up,. Even when it was so painful he didn't know what to do with himself, he kept going. And in the end, he finally got to do something he truly loved.

"No one who's ever seen Sensei at the front of a classroom can deny that he loved teaching. Whatever he was doing, whether it was giving one of his lectures that seemed to go on forever, or teaching how to throw kunai and shuriken, or even shouting at us with his Big-Head no Jutsu, he always had that look in his eyes, that look that said 'here I am, and I'd rather be here than anywhere else in the whole world.'

And he loved us, too, each and every one of us. So, to remember and honor him, we should all find that thing that makes us happy and do it. Not just do it, though, but do it the best we possibly can, with everything we are. Wether it's being a ninja, or a ramen chef, or a business owner, or a teacher, or a Hokage. We all need to find that thing and do it with all our hearts. For Iruka-sensei."

As he stepped down and went back to his place in the crowd, Naruto heard a noise. It took him a moment to figure out just what the noise was, until he realized people were clapping. All four hundred eighty six people were clapping for him, and for Iruka-sensei. It was something that had never happened to him before, outside of his imagination. And as Hokage-jiji went up to cremate the body with a Guokakyu no Jutsu, Naruto, for the first time in his twelve years, felt content.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

Here we have our protagonist dealing with everything that happened in the opening chapter. The first hospital scene starts things off and shows Naruto in a sort of confused and vulnerable, but relaxed, state.

Then, after that, there's a short bit from the Sandaime's viewpoint, mostly as a way of blatantly stating that Naruto is something a bit more than human. And a hint at the end that team setups will be different.

The second hospital scene is just there to connect the first half of the chapter to the second, as well as adding in some humor before the grim bit to come. That's all, really.

And to conclude, we have Iruka's funeral. This was the first scene in the story that I really thought I did a good job writing, especially Naruto's speech. Obviously, the Sandaime's bit is stolen from canon, but I love that speech of Iruka's so much, I couldn't _not_ include it. This scene was also inspired by its equivalent in Koinugami's story, and at first I was afraid it would turn out too similar to his, but I avoided that problem. That's it for chapter two.


	3. meet the team

**chapter 3**

**meet the team**

"_Well_" Naruto thought, as he sat in his classroom at the Academy for what would likely be the last time, "_Jiji's grandson sure is an interesting brat. Konohamaru. I'll remember your name._" It had felt odd, teaching someone like that. Of course, all he had wanted to learn was the Orioke no Jutsu, but still...

It was strange, being in this room without Iruka-sensei, like looking at the sky and seeing the sun missing, or eating ramen only to find out the noodles weren't there. Instead, it was just Jiji standing there, giving a clearly pre-written speech about the responsibilities and dangers of being a ninja. The words just had that dull, lifeless feel to them, like they had been said so many times by so many people in this same situation over the years that they were just tired and wanted to rest. He tried to picture how Iruka-sensei would do it if he were there, but even his mental recreation of the scarred chunin couldn't manage to make the speech any more interesting.

The blonde had found himself thinking deeply a lot more often the past few days. Probably because there was just so much for him to think about now. He'd see something completely ordinary, like a man buying some pig meat from the butcher just down the street from his apartment building, and he'd wonder. What did the man want the meat for? Was it for feeding his family? Or to be given to some animals? Or maybe he was just buying it because he could. Looking closer at the man's face, though, was enough to give him the answer he wanted. The man had that bright, happy look, the king you only get when doing something for someone you love. It didn't even lessen when he spotted Naruto staring at him. Dinner for his family then.

Something else had changed over the past several days as well. Now, when Naruto walked down a street, one out of every few hundred people would smile instead of glaring. And the blonde would smile right back, that soft smile he first felt himself use when Iruka-sensei gave him his forehead protector, not the extra-wide grin he normally showed the world. He recognized every single one of these "smilers," though. They were the people who had been at the funeral. And while his dream of being accepted by the people of Konoha was still a long way off, those smiles in the street erased any lingering doubts about it being impossible.

And this morning, he had noticed one more change. His classmates. Whenever one of them would look at him, or speak to him, they didn't think of him as an attention-grabbing idiot failure. No, now they though of him as an attention-grabbing idiot who was able to give a good speech. Well, at least it was an improvement.

Well, not quite _all_ of his peers had changed their views. Sasuke-teme still saw him as worthle-

"OW!" Right. Important fact: Jiji can throw chalk _really hard_.

"Naruto, please pay attention. I am going to announce your teams."

Oh. Right. "Sorry, Jiji. I'm listening."

"Very well. Team one will be..."

Make that half-listening, anyway. Kinda just partly paying attention so as to know who was with who and who he was with. The blonde would have been fine with just about anyone in his class, except for Sasuke-teme. Stupid bastard. Everyone loved him and thought he was so cool just because he had lost his family, and they had all been awesome ninjas, apparently. So everyone thought he would end up being an awesome ninja too, and... Bah! The thing that really pissed Naruto off, though, was the Uchiha's attitude, like he was above everyone else. He really wasn't that great, and the blonde promised himself that he prove it to him one day.

"Team seven will be Uzumaki Naruto..."

As Jiji paused, the blonde boy suddenly found himself on the edge of his seat in suspense. The next two names out of the old man's mouth would be the people he had the best opportunity to become good friends with. It was really a moment that would affect the whole rest of his life in ways he couldn't even imagine. And the old man sure was pausing a long time...

"Yamanaka Ino.."

Ino? Why couldn't it be Sakura-chan? Well, not that he was complaining or anything, but Sakura-chan was just so pretty, while Ino was just a Sasuke freak. Well, as long as the bastard wasn't the third team member, things would turn out okay. And again Jiji was pausing a really long time between names. He hadn't done this for any of the first six teams! It was like the old man was doing it just to annoy him... Wait a sec! He was! He had that mischievous little glint in his eye, stupid old man! "_I don't care if my pranking days are over, I'll get you for this somehow, Jiji!_"

"And Inuzuka Kiba."

Ino and Kiba? Yeah, he could get along with them all right, and they were both pretty good ninjas, so there was no need to worry about anyone falling behind and dragging the team down or anything like that. Or quitting. They were some of the only ones in the class that Naruto could tell really wanted to be ninja. Oh, the old man had just announced team eight to be Hinata, Shikamaru, and Choji. And it looked like there wouldn't be a team nine, something about last year's team nine still being there. Only three students were left now, so it seemed kind of silly to say who team ten was, but Jiji did it anyway. Shino, Sakura-chan, and the bastard.

"And that concludes this year's genin team divisions. Your jonin instructors will be arriving to pick you up after lunch; I recommend you use this period to become better acquainted with your comrades."

Yup. Jiji was definitely annoying him on purpose, and he was _definitely_ getting pranked for it later. Hmm... _Naruto_ had promised not to pull anymore pranks, but _Konohamaru_ hadn't. Now he'd just have to find the brat and teach him the wonderful art of the prank...

"Oi! Naruto!" Only two people in the class had a voice that loud, and the blonde boy was one of them.

"Yeah, Kiba?" he shouted back across the room.

"C'mon over here already! Hokage-sama said we should get to know each other better!"

Oh, so that was what all those big words Jiji had used meant. "Okay! Comin right over!"

Naruto decided to take the fastest route, namely the air. That way, he could get there quickly, wouldn't have to bother with pushing his way through the crowd, and it would look cool. Of course, he didn't stop to think about how, when jumping across a crowded room, one can't be sure the spot they plan on landing in is empty. This turned out to be the case when the blonde-haired blue-eyed boy crashed straight into the class's only blonde-haired blue-eyed girl.

Naturally, the sound of the two hitting drew the attention of all thirty five other people in the room (twenty five genin, one Hokage, and nine hidden jonin-senseis. And one dog.).

The scene they saw caused one young Hyuuga girl to turn beet red, let out a quiet "eep" and faint.

Somehow, Naruto had managed to land _directly_ on top of a startled Ino, their lips pressed together in a completely involuntary kiss. Also, both of them had had their mouths open slightly.

For several seconds, it was like the world had frozen. Then...

"met oth" The sound had come from the girl on the floor. The boy on top of her took two more additional seconds to process that she was, in fact, trying to speak, and that it would be completely impossible for her to do so with his tongue in her mouth and visa versa. On realizing this, he swiftly pulled his face off of hers.

"Huh?" The boy's brain wasn't quite functioning properly at the moment, or he would have been able to properly interpret the look of pure rage on the girl's face.

"I said. Get. Off." The words didn't quite have the force she had hoped for. Something to do with not enough air getting into her lungs because of the heavy weight on top of them.

"Oh, um... Sorry." Only now was Naruto beginning to understand what had just happened.

"Naruto you idiot! Be a bit more careful next time you want to try and show off, would you? I was saving my first kiss for Sasuke-kun, you clumsy fool! And you seriously need to start laying off the ramen! I swear, you weigh as much as Chouji!" Each insult was emphasized with a fist to the top of the boy's head.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing, Chouji! But as for you..."

"Oi! I'll have you know this is all good, solid, hard-earned muscle! And what's so great about Sasuke-teme, anyway? I could pound his face in any day of the week!"

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun like that, you-"

"Knock it off, you two!" Kiba chose that moment to intervene before his new teammates decided to kill each other. From on top of his head, Akamaru echoed his partner's sentiments with a couple of sharp barks."It was an accident. Don't go tearing each other to pieces because of it."

More than anything else, it was the fact that _Kiba_ was acting as the voice of reason that managed to calm them down.

"Sorry, Ino." the blonde apologized.

"Sorry, Naruto." the other blonde apologized.

As it always did when he was embarrassed, the short boy's right hand went up to scratch at the back of his neck. "So, um, since that was mostly my fault, why don't you pick where we go for lunch?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So, guys, what d'you wanna talk about?" Naruto asked, grinning at his two teammates. The three genin of the newly-formed team seven were sitting on the Academy roof in a sort of triangle shape, each with a bento box in front of them. Well, actually, the small boy had two bento boxes in front of him, and Kiba had a can of meat for Akamaru as well.

There had been a silent agreement between the three to leave ninja-related things out of the conversation. This time was for learning about each other on a more personal level.

"Well," said the dog boy, "let's start with asking why you brought so much food!"

"What, I can't have a big lunch? It's not like I couldn't afford it. Now that we're ninjas , I'm sure we'll be making lots of money!" He had brought a lot of food, though: two rice balls, two turkey ham tomato and cheese sandwiches, two oranges, and two cartons of milk. "And since we're talking about lunches, Ino, what the hell is that supposed to be?" Immediately after asking this, he bit off nearly a quarter of his first sandwich.

From her bento box, the girl had taken a cube of tofu and a leaf of lettuce, leaving the box empty. "My lunch, of course. In case you didn't notice earlier I'm a girl. I need to stick to my diet if I want to keep my figure and impress Sasuke-kun.!" The two boys of team seven looked at each other and rolled their eyes simultaneously. Then another quarter of Naruto's sandwich vanished, Kiba tore into a chicken leg, and took off a corner of her tofu cube.

"Hey Naruto, I've always meant to ask," this was Kiba again, having just swallowed his first hunk of meat, "do you have a pet fox or something? Cause you've always got this fox scent around you."

The Kyuubi container froze momentarily. Fortunately, neither of the others noticed, because he immediately started to choke on the large clump of rice he had just put in his mouth. The short time spent not able to breathe was enough to calm his briefly panicking mind.

"Whaddya mean 'fox scent?' And what are you sniffing me for anyway?" the boy accused.

"I mean exactly what I said. Inuzuka clan members have a heightened sense of smell, I can't help it. And Akamaru can tell too. You smell like a fox who went for a bath in a bowl of miso ramen." The small white dog stopped tearing at his own meat long enough to yip his agreement.

He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that last bit, so he chose to just ignore it. "Anyway, I don't have any pets, unless you count Ukki-kun, but he's a plant. I think there's a family of foxes living near one of my favorite training spots, though. Would that explain it?"

Kiba nodded.

Team seven's kunoichi decided to make herself heard. "Plant? You like gardening, Naruto?"

Unfortunately, she had caught him with a slice of orange in his mouth. "Mah. I on'y mth th un tho."

"Huh?" This came from both of the other two.

He took a moment to finish chewing. "Yeah. I've only got the one, though. Not enough room in my apartment for any more. D'you like to garden, Ino?"

"Yep. My parents own a flower store, so I've been around plants my whole life."

"Oh yeah! Yamanaka flowers, of course! I remember that place now! There was this one time, about a year ago, when I..." Konoha's prankster king trailed off, concluding that that particular story would be best told in other company.

"Yes?" the other blonde asked, the slightest hint of a threat behind the inquiry.

"Umm... Never mind. New topic." He swiftly turned to the other boy. "So, Kiba, your family is, like, a family of dog ninjas or something?"

"Oh no! You're not getting off that easy!" That slight hint of threat had become much more obvious. "When you _what_, Naruto?"

He looked to his fellow male for help, but both Kiba and his partner were busy eating. "When I...snuck-in-and-poured-orange-dye-in-the-washing-machine-while-it-was-running-please-don't-kill-me!"

As soon as Ino figured out what the other blonde had just said, she threw herself at him, intent on giving him a beating for ruining her clothes. Naruto immediately leapt to his feet, and she started to chase him in circles around Kiba.

The boy and his dog looked at each other and sighed. Then the Inuzuka decided to take advantage of the opportunity by stealing Naruto's remaining rice ball. He brought it to his mouth...

"Yoink!" The blue-eyed boy stole his food back, stuffing it straight into his own gaping hole.

However, he had come a bit too close to Kiba, and his leg got tangled up in the other's jacket, resulting in him spinning around to face the other direction.

Ino, of course, was not expecting this sudden turn around and stop and slammed straight into him.

The end result was much like what had happened back in the classroom, except that Ino was now on top, and the rice ball was filling both their mouths.

Thirty seconds later, both had agreed to pretend it had never happened.

"Anyway, you both probably know I'm an orphan. Been living on my own since... um... Can't quite remember. Hokage-jiji was really the only person in my life when I was younger, besides the Ichirakus, so it really isn't surprising that I want to be just like him. Well, except for the smoking. And the old age. But what about you two? What are your families like?" Naruto asked, before chugging one of his milk cartons.

Ino went first. "It's just me, my mom, and my dad. Dad's a jonin, but he's not gone as much as you'd expect, because he helps out pretty often in the interrogation department. Mom just stays home and runs the store. Dad and I help when we can, but it's Mom who does most of the work. She has basic ninja training, of course, but apparently it just wasn't the life she wanted for herself.

"Dad was the one who made me want to be a ninja, though. When I was little, he'd tell me stories about some of his missions. It all just sounded so exciting! Saving people, stopping bandits, everything. Not too long after I started the Academy, I met Forehead girl, and we were best friends for a while, till we started fighting over Sasuke-kun. And that's my life in a nutshell."

"My turn, I guess," Kiba said. "I've got my mom, my sister, and all the dogs. Dad used to be around, too, but Mom... Well, she can be kinda... forceful... sometimes, and apparently it was a bit too much for him. I think I was about five then, so I don't remember too well.

"Mom's a jonin, and she's actually the best tracker in the village, so she and Kuromaru go out with the hunter nins pretty often to help them catch missing nins. Hana's eighteen and a chunin. She mostly stays in the village though, cause she's the only veterinarian in Konoha.

"As for me becoming a ninja, there was never really anything else. The whole clan has been ninjas all the way back to the time of the Shodai. But I get the feeling that ninja life is something I can enjoy, don't you think so too, Akamaru?"

"Arf!"

By this time, all four had finished their lunches and begun cleaning up.

"Well," this was Ino, "I say the first thing we do after meeting out jonin sensei is go shopping!" The other two looked at her like she was crazy. "I mean it, you two! You boys have no fashion sense. I absolutely refuse to be on a team with someone wearing _that_." She pointed to Naruto.

Predictably, the boy took offense to this. "Oi! What the hell's wrong with my jacket?"

"It's orange." The look she gave him said, quite clearly, 'just how stupid are you?'

He just as clearly missed said look. "So? Orange is awesome! Way better than that stupid purple thing you're wearing."

"Uh, guys?" Kiba tried to interject

Now Ino was furious._ No one _insults her clothes. She took a threatening step forward. "I will not allow that monstrosity of a piece of clothing on my team! And the pants will have to go, too!"

"Guys?" He was ignored again.

"Your team? _Your_ team? This is definitely not _your_ team. It's _our _team, or our _sensei's _team!" That comment had really pissed Naruto off, if the small wisps of chakra leaking off him were anything to go by. Their faces were now only inches apart.

"GUYS!" the third teammate shouted.

They both rounded on him. "WHAT!"

"It's time to go," he reminded them.

"Oh," both said.

"Sorry, Naruto. About the clothing and the team comment. I didn't mean it. I just get a bit riled up when people insult my clothes."

"I'm sorry too, Ino. I'll try to keep that in mind about you and clothing."

Team seven turned and headed back inside, Kiba in front, Naruto in back.

"But that purple thing really is stupid looking." She immediately rounded on her fellow blonde, only to find him smiling at her. "Hehe. Just kidding." Ino smiled in return.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sitting in between his two new teammates, Naruto couldn't help but think that finally, after twelve years of suffering, his life was starting to look up. He liked Ino and Kiba. Well, most of the time, anyway. The blue-eyed girl seemed able to get on his nerves in a way even Sasuke-teme had never managed, and her obsession with the pretty-boy Uchiha was really annoying. Kiba, though, he didn't see himself having any problems getting along with, because they were just so similar personality-wise.

He turned to face the door, along with all the other new genin (except Shikamaru, who had somehow managed to fall asleep in the two minutes since he had sat down) when eight men and women, all clearly jonin, walked into the room and stood at the front of the class in a line, facing them.

One by one, they called their teams to them and left the room. Naruto looked ahead to the seventh person in the lineup. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with a thick beard smoking a cigarette. Ugh. The boy could smell the vile thing from this far away, and it was all he could do not to gag. Next to him, Kiba and Akamaru seemed to be in the same state, if not worse.

"Team seven, come with me." Damn. They did have the smoking man. Oh well. Hopefully his teaching would make up for his stench.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Asuma led his new genin team to a training ground about ten miles from the Academy. He made sure to keep his pace at something the fresh ninjas would be able to follow. When they arrived at the main clearing of training ground 3 (Kakashi would probably kill him when the man found out he had stolen it), he saw that the results of his impromptu test were exactly as he had expected. Uzumaki was perfectly fresh, as though he had just been on a brisk jog. The Inuzuka was breathing heavily but trying to hide it. And the team's kunoichi would probably need a moment or two to recover.

He had watched the three of them interacting on the Academy roof during lunch earlier that day and found himself pleasantly surprised. For a fresh genin team, they got along with one another pretty well. But more on that later. Now it was time for what was known as 'introduction time.'

"Right, now that we're all comfortably settled, I think it's time we got to know each other. My name is Sarutobi Asuma. I enjoy playing strategy games like shogi and go, along with smoking my cigarettes. My favorite color is brown. I don't like parents who try and control their kids' lives, and I have absolutely zero tolerance for anyone who would threaten Konoha and Fire Country. My dream for the future is to one day settle down and retire, maybe have a kid or two of my own."

"Sarutobi? Are you related to Jiji and Konohamaru, then?" the blonde boy blurted out as soon as he finished.

Figures the kid would pick up on that bit. "That's right, Naruto. Hokage-sama is my father, and Konohamaru is my nephew. Now, I was going to let you go next, but after that outburst I've changed my mind. Kiba, you go."

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this here is Akamaru!" The boy's partner added in his own bark of introduction. "I like spending time with Akamaru, especially going for runs through the woods with just the two of us. I also enjoy being with my family, except for when Hana starts teasing me about stuff. My favorite color is grey, like my coat. I dislike arrogant bastards like Uchiha Sasuke who think they're better than everyone else just because. And my dream for the future is to show the world that I'm gonna be a great ninja and a proud member of the Inuzuka clan."

When the dog-boy had mentioned the last Uchiha, Asuma had found himself needing to send a harsh glare at the team kunoichi to keep her from interjecting. So far, though, everything was going pretty much as expected. He gestured for the girl to speak next.

"Hi, my name's Yamanaka Ino. I like Sasuke-kun, flowers, gardening, helping out in my family's flower shop, and Sasuke-kun. My favorite color is purple. I don't like anyone who insults Sasuke-kun or my clothes, and my dream for the future is to marry Sasuke-kun!"

Energetic, but a bit of a one-track mind. Well, it was good to know what needed to be worked on. Only one left now, and if half the stories his dad had told him were true, the jonin would probably find himself wanting new eardrums before the fox-boy finished.

"Finally!" Naruto leapt to his feet. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, Konoha, and training! I really like the ramen they serve at Ichiraku Ramen, Hokage-Jiji, old man Ichiraku, Ayame-neechan, and playing pranks! Jiji made me promise to stop the pranks now that I'm a ninja, though..." His face fell briefly before springing back into a huge grin just as fast. "My favorite color is orange! I don't like the three minutes I have to wait for the water to heat up when making instant ramen! I'm starting to really dislike the smell of cigarettes. And I really really don't like stupid Sasuke-teme! He's such a stuck-up bastard, like Kiba said, and he's always just off brooding by himself, so obsessed with what he lost that he doesn't realize what he had, or what he has now. I _hate_ traitors. Anyone willing to betray the people who love and care about them isn't worth the spit from my mouth. My dream for the future is to make Iruka-sensei proud of me and become the greatest Hokage ever. And to try every flavor of ramen!"

That last bit had been tacked on almost as an afterthought. While Asuma did indeed find his eardrums ringing, he was also quite surprised. Apparently, the death of that Academy instructor had affected the boy greatly, moreso than he normally let the world see. Uzumaki Naruto... A psychologist would have a field day with that kid.

Anyway, now he had three cute potential genin and one dog all staring up at him, wanting to know what they were doing next. "Very good, you three. I think we'll all get along just fine. But before we do anything else, there's something you should know."

Four inquiring gazes locked onto his own. "You see, you three aren't actually genin yet." He braced himself.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT!" Damn, these three could be loud. His dad must have heard that all the way over in the Hokage tower!

"That's right. The test at the Academy was just to get rid of the ones who never had a chance. Tomorrow, all the newly-assigned teams will be given their own test. Pass, and you are officially instated as genin of Konoha. Fail, and it's right back to another year at the Academy."

The expressions of dread on each of their faces were priceless. If only he'd brought a camera... "This test, though, is extremely difficult, with an approximate 66,6% fail rate."

"Huh? Whaddya mean 'an approximate 66.6% fail rate?'" This was from Naruto, who now looked confused. The other two just looked more horrified.

While he didn't love this part quite as much as Kakashi, the jonin couldn't help but admit to himself that it was kind of fun. "I mean that, out of your graduating class of twenty seven students, only nine are likely to become ninjas."

But the expected fearful look never showed on the blonde boy's face. The other two, yes, but he was different. And it was at this moment that Asuma first realized just _how_ different Uzumaki Naruto really was.

No, the Kyuubi jinchuriki wasn't frightened at all. He was determined. And excited. "Well bring it on! We're ready, right Ino, Kiba, Akamaru?"

"Right!"

"Right!"

"Arf!"

And his determination and excitement sort of flowed into the other two, leaving the Hokage's son with three resolved, serious genin (and one dog).

He laughed, resulting in three puzzled genin (and one dog). "That's great that you feel that way, but the test isn't until tomorrow. Meet here at 8:00 sharp, and we'll discuss the details then. For now, you're dismissed." And he shunshined away.

Not really, though. He had just gone into the trees and was watching to see what would happen next.

Predictably, Naruto was the first to voice his opinion. "Hey, why don't we all hang around for a bit and try and think up some ideas for this test, whatever it is. And we can explore the training ground, too. Get to know the terrain, like Iruka-sensei taught us."

The other two looked surprised at that last part. Kiba was the one to speak. "Naruto? Weren't you asleep for that lecture?"

The short boy gave his teammate a strange look. "Eh, probably. But ever since Sensei died, I've been remembering bits and pieces of the stuff he'd teach us, stuff I never really learned when he was alive." All three became a bit downcast.

As seemed to be becoming a dependable occurrence, Naruto was the first to perk back up. "So, what d'you say? Wanna check the place out?"

The other two's faces morphed into apologetic looks. "I'd like to, and it's a good idea, but I promised Mom I'd go straight home as soon as possible. She'd skin me alive if I disobeyed." The dog barked out his agreement.

"Forehead said she wanted to talk to me after team meetings. Said it was important. But hey, why don't we all meet back here later this evening, say around six?"

"Sure, six sounds okay." Kiba agreed.

"Yeah!" The orange clad boy was practically glowing with happiness.

"Well, see ya!"

"Yeah, see ya then!"

"Later!"

Asuma had a good feeling about these three. Of course, final judgement would be reserved until after the test, but still.. And as much as he enjoyed watching them together, he knew he'd have to force himself to stay away later that night. If they were going to use that time to prepare, it would be unfair of him to spy on them. After all, they'd need every advantage they could get come tomorrow morning...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

author's note: Thank you, mabscottsville, for giving me the name of Naruto's plant.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

I decided to skip over Naruto meeting with Konohamaru, because it really wasn't going to be any different from canon, which means many readers would probably just skim over it, so there wasn't really a point pouring time and effort into something that would be ignored. Instead, I mentioned that it happened and moved on to team selections.

Hopefully, everyone was surprised by exactly _who_ Naruto ended up with. Sticking him under Asuma is a very rare occurrence, and I think I've only seen one other semi-decent fic place Ino and Kiba on his team. You'll also note that I decided to break the number tradition. Kakashi and Asuma have switched.

Also, I just had to throw in the "accidental kiss" bit for comedy, homage to canon, first pairing hint, and to show that Ino's Uchiha obsession didn't just magically disappear.

As for the three genin managing to get along so quickly, remember that they all have that same sort of dominant personality. Mixing them together like that could result in either great cooperation or extreme conflict. For story purposes, it's of course the former. There's a bit of tension between Naruto and Ino, but I don't really feel the need to explain why that's there.

The team introductions scene was a bit tricky to write, mostly because I had to find a way to do it that would have my readers wanting to actually read it, as it's one of the standards of Naruto fanfiction, and therefore something people don't usually pay much attention to, even with an unusual team combination. I hope I succeeded.

Attentive readers will notice that I had Ino mention a planed meeting with Sakura. This is the canon flashback where she returns the ribbon.


	4. team time

**chapter 4**

**team time**

As Inuzuka Kiba made his way toward training ground three at 7:30 in the morning, he felt confident and excited about the upcoming test. He had slept well the night before and woken up a bit early to fit in a decent breakfast (because eating just before something that would likely involve strenuous physical activity was something only an idiot would do). The dog-nin's current plan was to arrive at the training field a bit early and use the time to warm up while waiting for the test to start.

"Arf rff woof! /_Just last week, I would never have dreamed about being happy to spend time with the infamous Uzumaki Naruto and a member of the Uchiha's fan club_/" his white-furred partner spoke up from inside his jacket.

"I know, Akamaru. Crazy, isn't it? I mean, who would have thought that a loud idiot like Naruto would be so fun to hang with. And Ino's really pretty neat too, as long as she and the baka aren't at each other's throats," he answered.

The evening meeting had gone pretty well, except for his having to step in five different times to stop his teammates from killing each other. They had started off speculating as to just what the test might be and, combining stuff Hana-neesan and his mom had told him, a few things Ino had overheard her dad talking about over the years, and several minor details Naruto remembered from Iruka-sensei's lectures (seriously, though, the boy's memory was just plain _freaky_ when it came to Sensei, especially considering that he had slept through more than half the stuff he remembered), they concluded that it would most likely pit the three of them together against Asuma-sensei in some form of combat.

Once they figured that out, the genin of team seven made the obvious choice of figuring out where each of them stood in terms of ninja abilities, so they could plan more effectively. His blonde teammates had really managed to surprise him. When they did one-on-one taijutsu spars, Ino had kicked both boys' asses with her superior technique, until she started getting tired, anyway. And that Shintenshin no Jutsu of hers had been just plain creepy. When she had gone to demonstrate it, Naruto had refused point-blank to be a target. Somehow, that had gotten the kunoichi angry at him and led to their third shouting match. It also resulted in Kiba being on the receiving end of the jutsu. Feeling his body responding to someone else's commands and not his own was the weirdest thing he had ever experienced.

Then there was Naruto. He had always thought of the short blonde as nothing more than a weak, noisy loser who liked to exaggerate his own skills, boast about how he'd become Hokage, and pull pranks. Now though... It had started with his speech at Iruka-sensei's funeral. Something in the way he talked made it impossible not to realize just how true the words were, and he just sort of drew you in. After they had been put on the same team, when the three of them went to the roof for lunch, he had started really paying attention to the other shinobi for the first time. It was impossible not to notice the blonde (his clothes alone made sure of that), but there was a big difference between noticing someone and paying attention to them. What Kiba had realized during that half hour together was that Naruto was a pretty fun person to be around. With how he was always so open about his emotions and thoughts, and that big grin that was usually on his face, you just couldn't help but like him.

His ninja skills were nothing to scoff at, either. His taijutsu was really sloppy, sure, but he made up for it by just not staying down. The first time Kiba had landed a punch, the blonde had just shrugged it off like it was nothing and told him to stop holding back. The first time Naruto had landed a punch, the Inuzuka was on his back for five seconds before he was able to stand again. He had hated to admit it, but the smaller boy had him beat in terms of raw strength. Of course, he hadn't really had any other choice when his opponent, without seeming to really exert himself, had him held so tightly he couldn't even wiggle. That had been in their second match. Kiba had won the first thanks to his superior speed, but the second dragged on so long he had started to wear out. Of course Naruto, being the stamina freak he was, wasn't even winded. And after sparring, when they had shown each other their jutsu, the dog-boy couldn't help but be amazed by the Kage Bunshin. The only thing more insane than the jutsu itself was the amount of chakra it required and the way Naruto could dish it out like it was nothing. No wonder he was always so energetic.

"Arf! /_I smell something interesting up ahead_/" His companion's message interrupted his musing on his teammates.

"Really? What?"

"Rff. /_Wait and find out for yourself_/" Something amusing, if Akamaru's tone was anything to go by. A minute later, he caught the scent as well. Ramen, fox, and... sweat? Naruto was training? _Now_? Kiba decided to run the rest of the way and give the idiot a piece of his mind when he got there. Did he forget they all needed to be in top shape for the test even after he had been the one to force Ino to promise to eat something substantial for breakfast?

He arrived just in time to see four of the blonde boy charge at each other, before three of them dispersed in puffs of smoke. The remaining version of his teammate noticed his presence and turned to face him, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "Hey, Kiba, morning! I was just doing a bit of training while I waited for you and Ino to show up."

The dog-boy was about to answer when, out of nowhere, a fist impacted powerfully with the smaller boy's cheek, sending him flying before he burst into smoke.

"Are you the real you, then?" he asked, after seeing his teammate punch himself.

"Yeah. Anyway, Asuma-sensei should be here in about twenty minutes. I'm gonna go relax over by the stone for a bit." By 'the stone,' he meant the memorial stone, with all the names carved into it. The genin had noticed it last night when they were getting ready to leave.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"_Hey, Ino, Kiba. Come look at this." The blonde boy was standing in front of the large, oddly-shaped rock near the trees. They both took notice of his somber tone of voice._

"_What about it?" Ino asked._

"_It has a bunch of names carved into it. The last one is Iruka sensei's." The other two members of team seven had come to a silent agreement to not ask Naruto about what had happened that night. The pain was still obvious in his face and voice whenever the man came up._

"_Hey, you're right," Kiba said, now standing next to the other boy. He could barely make it out in the fading light, but the final name on the stone was indeed Umino Iruka._

"_Sensei's name was just carved in recently." It was the quietest either of the other two had ever heard Naruto speak._

"_Really? How can you tell?" Ino asked._

_He turned to her, blue eyes full of sadness in the dim light. "The stone is rougher. It hasn't had time to smooth out any."_

_Kiba spent a moment thinking about this before responding. "You can see that kind of detail in this light? Wow, you must have good night vision."_

"_Still, I wonder what this stone is for. A memorial to all the fallen Konoha ninjas, maybe?" Ino voiced the thought they were all thinking._

_Her answer came from behind the three genin. "Close. Anyone who gives their life protecting the village has their name put on this stone." The solemn voice caught them completely by surprise._

"_Ahh!" They spun around to find a tall, silver-haired man in jonin garb. His forehead protector was slanted down to cover up a presumably missing left eye, and a mask covered the lower half of his face._

_Naruto elected himself to speak for the group. "Who the hell are you, and what are you sneaking up on us like that for?"_

"_I'm Hatake Kakashi. And just so you know, I wasn't sneaking up on you."_

"_Whaddaya mean, not snea-"_

_Ino interrupted the much louder blonde. "Kakashi? You're the sensei for Sasuke-kun's team, then? Forehead girl was telling me all about you and how you were three hours late for meeting them."_

_The man's eyelid lowered exactly halfway, giving the erie effect that his eye was smiling at them. "What can I say? I got lost on the road of life." After giving the genin a moment to glare at him for the sheer lameness of his excuse, he continued. "As far as being a sensei, well, it depends on wether my cute new genin are able to survive my test tomorrow. There's no need for me to ask who you are, though."_

_The strange and sudden use of a comment that would have made much more sense earlier in the conversation confused Ino and Kiba to no end. The team knucklehead, though, seemed to take offense at something, if the abrupt shift in his posture and tone were any indication. "And just what the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?"_

_The tall man just did that creepy eye-smile again. "You're obviously Asuma's own trio of cute potential genin, of course. Anyway, I believe you three were looking at the Memorial Stone earlier. Please don't let me interrupt you."_

_Their attention returned once more to the engraved, polished hunk of rock before them. Knowing just what it stood for and seeing the countless names that had been carved in over the years was truly a humbling feeling. "This bunch right here," Naruto gestured to a group of about four hundred names, separated by a small amount of blank space from the ones before and after it. "This is everyone who died in the Kyuubi attack, right? I see the Yondaime, and two people who must have been Iruka-sensei's parents." Hearing the blonde speak so solemnly was something his teammates still weren't used to._

_Kakashi moved and kneeled down to look straight into his crystal-blue eyes. "Yes. They are the people who lost their lives fighting the monster during that terrible tragedy." He stood again, and everyone was silent for several minutes in respect for the dead. Then, as if by some unspoken signal, team seven departed all at once, each heading in a different direction. Kakashi stayed where he was._

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ino came into the clearing about five minutes before the test was scheduled to begin. She had walked the whole way from home, knowing that she needed to conserve her energy. Last night had shown quite clearly just how lacking she was in terms of stamina, especially when compared to the boys.

Speaking of the boys, they were currently sitting down on the grass by the training posts, leaning up against the hard wood. "You two need to be more alert! What would Asuma-sensei think if he saw you dozing off like that when he got here?"

Her fellow blonde leapt to his feet with an indignant shout. "Oi! I was alert!"

"Yeah right, idiot! Your eyes were half-closed!" she shouted right back. Ever since she had gotten teamed up with the knucklehead, he had taken the definition of 'annoying' to a whole new level. The blue-eyed boy was about to retort, but he was silenced before even starting by the sudden arrival of Asuma-sensei.

"What's this? Are you three fighting already? While I'm glad you're all so excited, wouldn't it be better to save it for the test?" The young ninjas turned to face him, standing at attention and ready to find out just what they would be doing. It looked like he had forgone the cigarette today, probably out of courtesy to Naruto after the comment he had made during introductions. "Much better. Now, like I said yesterday, this will be a very difficult test, and anyone who doesn't pass will be sent back to the Academy." Repeating himself? Why? Surely he didn't think they would forget something so important so quickly.

"Hurry it up then! The three of us are ready for anything you throw our way!"

"Yeah! We're gonna ace this test of yours, whatever it is! Right Akamaru?"

"Arf!"

Boys. Always so quick to be ready to fight, especially loud ones like those two... Oh! So that was it! Best play along then. Was she ever glad her dad had started teaching her psychology earlier that year.

Ino moved to stand in between the two of them. "Bring it on, Asuma-sensei!"

She could detect the faintest hint of triumph in the jonin's chuckle. "_Gotchya. Now if only I knew just _why_ you want us all riled up._"

"Okay. For this test, the three of you will be up against me in combat." Well, it seemed their guess was correct. All those traps Naruto had set up would probably come in pretty handy soon. The three genin sank into combat stances instantly. "Hold on a minute; I haven't finished explaining the rules." They returned to normal. "You see, to pass this test, you have to land a hit on me, or something equivalent, in one fashion or another. Doesn't matter if it's taijutsu, kunai or shuriken, ninjutsu, whatever. You just have to land it or get me into a situation where a hit would be inevitable. There's a catch, though." Their heads perked up. "Two catches, actually. First, you only have until 8:30. And second, only the first two of you to hit me will pass."

"WHAAAAT?"

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Grr rff!"

Ino figured it out but decided not to let anyone know for the time being. "Yeah! What happened to us being a team?"

"Sorry. One of you's got to go back. That's the rules." He didn't look sorry.

Naruto was angry. "Grr... Stupid rules! When I become Hokage, that'll be the first thing to go!"

Kiba and Akamaru stayed silent, but were clearly just as upset.

"All right," Asuma-sensei said after a moment. "Ready... Set... START!"

The boys would have leapt off in opposite directions then and there had it not been for Ino grabbing tightly onto each of their forearms. "And just where do you two think you're going?"

"Ino, let go! You're wasting time!" Kiba was a bit nervous.

"Hehe... Sorry. It looks like we won't be working together for this after all."

She smirked at Asuma-sensei. "You idiots!" the kunoichi shouted, removing her hands from their arms to bonk them on the heads. "Pay a bit more attention, would you?"

"Huh?"

"Wah?"

"Arf?"

She sighed. "Yesterday, Asuma-sensei said that every two out of three teams fail this test. Now he's saying that one out of three genin fails it."

"So?" the boys asked as one.

"So, he's trying to trick us! Remember how last night we guessed it would probably be a test to see how we work together? Well we were right, just not the way we thought. Instead of seeing how we fight together, he's trying to how _willing we are_ to fight together. Are we ready to keep working as a team, even knowing one of us won't be around much longer? Can we stay true to each other even when our dreams are on the line? That's what this test is really about, right Asuma-sensei?"

The other two looked at her, then at their sensei, then back to her, then back to him again, waiting angrily for confirmation. "She's right. Well, I gave it a try." Then he mumbled, but not so quietly that they couldn't make it out, "I _told_ Kakashi it wouldn't work on these three."

"Anyways, you all pass. Good work, Ino, Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru."

"WOOHOO! We did it! We passed! We're ninjas! Ino, that was awesome!" Naruto did some sort of strange, excited victory dance. Then he hugged her, taking the girl completely by surprise. She was about to shout at him with what little air she had left in her lungs, when he just as suddenly let go, running over to Kiba.

The dog-boy backed up frantically. "Naruto, I'm excited and all too, but I _really_ don't want you to hug me." That seemed to calm the orange blob of energy down a little.

Asuma-sensei spoke up again. "Now while you have passed, I'll still need to evaluate your combat skills. I'm supposed to be your sensei, but I need to know where you stand before I can decide what to teach you." The genin of team seven listened intently. "Now, I want you to start by coming at me individually, and yes, Kiba, you can use Akamaru. Then all of you at once, so I can see your teamwork. Now, who wants to go first?"

"I will, Asuma-sensei," Ino volunteered. It made the most sense, after all. She had the least stamina, so going first would give her the most time to recover before the three-on-one fight. She stepped forward and shifted into the basic taijutsu stance taught at the Academy as the boys moved back, giving her space.

"Don't hold back," he advised. She wasn't planning on it. Channeling chakra to her legs, she dashed forward, striking out with a quick right jab. It was blocked, of course, but the blonde swiftly followed it up by planting her left foot forward and transfering to a chakra-enhanced spin kick with the right. The jonin leapt backwards slightly to avoid it. Ino, however, had thought a step ahead. During her spin, her left hand had grabbed a kunai, and she threw it at point blank range.

For an instant, she panicked, thinking the weapon would actually hit, only for Asuma-sensei to suddenly be deflecting it with a trench knife in his right hand. Amazing; she hadn't even seen a trace of movement he was so fast.

This time, the jonin came at her, apparently wanting to test her defense, but Ino was having none of it. Dropping low, she went to sweep out his legs. The blonde didn't bother adding chakra to this one, as she hadn't planned for it to hit, just to get him in the air again. Of course, realistically, none of these blows had any chance of hitting unless Asuma-sensei let them, but never mind. Before his feet touched the ground, she tried for a straight punch to the stomach. Blocked again. Immediately, she followed up with a knife-hand to the neck. The man punished her for leaving herself open like that with a swift knee to the side.

Things continued in this fashion for about ten minutes, her attacking, him blocking or dodging and giving her 'reminders' whenever she left too wide of an opening, with the occasional kunai or shuriken thrown in to mix things up. Then he called a stop. "Good work, Ino. You're quick and accurate, and you think ahead in combat. You need to not be quite so aggressive, though, as it tends to leave large gaps in your defense. Also, your stamina definitely needs some work, as does your overall speed. Go rest for a bit."

The praise felt nice, and Asuma-sensei was definitely more helpful than Mizuki had ever been. She sat down on the grass next to her fellow blonde as their other teammate and his dog took her place.

"You looked really good out there, Ino." She doubted the boy even realized his words could be taken two different ways.

"Thanks, Naruto." she responded in between deep breaths. Then she turned to watch the Inuzuka and his partner.

She hadn't really liked Kba very much back in the Academy. He was always too loud and never seemed to pay attention in classes. Unlike Sasuke-kun, so quiet and strong, watching everything around him with his captivating black eyes...

Enough about Sasuke-kun for now though. There would be plenty of time to reminisce about her days in the presence of the Uchiha later. Right now she had a teammate to support.

Teammate. It was weird, she would never have thought the dog-boy would be so likable, in his own strange way. All that boasting and bragging he did was really just to cover for how insecure he really was. And no surprise either, since for the most part he had only had one parental figure, who wasn't even home very often and acted much more like a father than the mother she was supposed to be. His sister probably helped, but a sibling just couldn't fill the same role. Damn her father for making her learn psychology. Now she was being all analytical.

The mind wasn't meant to be analyzed like that, it was far more complex to just be described. It had to be experienced. And as a matter of fact, she had experienced Kiba's mind briefly last night. It turned out there was much more to the dog-boy than met the eye, especially when it came to his bond with Akamaru.

And he was someone she felt she could trust as well. As a friend, he would be faithful, loyal, and supportive, helping her when she needed it and just being there to talk to in a way she wished she still had with Sakura. And in return, she would be a good friend to him as well.

"Okay, stop." Asuma-sensei's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She had completely lost track of time "The two of you work together very well, and you're perfectly fine in terms of your physical condition. Also, your knowledge and use of your clan jutsus is extremely advanced for a fresh genin. On the downside, though, you're much too straightforward in your attacks. Anyone fast enough would be very hard for you to fight well against. You also seem to be a little too dependent on Akamaru at times. While I know that the two of you are supposed to be together all the time, unexpected things happen fairly often on missions, and you need to be prepared. Okay, go have a seat. Naruto! You're up."

The overly-energetic boy leapt to his feet in excitement. "Yes! Finally I get a chance to show you just what I can do! Ready, Sensei? Here I come!"

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"**

Orange filled her vision, and in fact the entire clearing and some of the nearby trees. In fact, the only things she could see that _weren't_ Naruto (excluding herself, of course) were Kiba and Akamaru. Then her blonde teammate started throwing himselves at their sensei, sometimes quite literally picking himself up and throwing himself through the air.

Last night, after returning home Ino had spent the remainder of her time before bed thinking about the mystery that was the blue-eyed, orange-loving, yellow-haired, black hole of ramen of a teammate and come to a simple conclusion. Uzumaki Naruto was someone that made no sense. Or more like there were things about him that didn't make any sense. For one, he was, without a doubt, the most open person she had ever met. Whenever he talked or thought, his emotions would play out across his face and in his eyes and voice clear as day. Yet at the same time, there was an entire side of him she hadn't even known existed until she heard his speech at Iruka-sensei's funeral.

When she had gone back over all the memories of him in the Academy, something else odd had stood out. The constant boasting and bragging. Unlike with Kiba, this wasn't to cover up some kind of insecurity. Naruto being insecure was about as likely as the grass being blue and the sky green. So she had started to consider what other reasons he might have had, using everything she knew about him and the new side of himself he had first revealed at the funeral. And she had figured it out. Oh God she had figured it out, even though part of her wished she hadn't. Because Naruto was so lonely. So painfully lonely, every day, all the time, for his entire life. So alone, and now she could see it. That loneliness in his eyes, always there, always so perfectly hidden unless you were looking for it. Even just remembering the way he had been at the Academy it was there, in everything he did, in every word he spoke.

Now, though, he had the beginnings of friendship, and sometimes, like when he had smiled at her on the roof the day before, that insufferable loneliness would just melt away, and it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, spreading its light and warmth throughout the world. Just as the loneliness pierced straight to her heart, so did the happiness, that brilliant joy of his.

And she knew, too, who it was that had saved the boy from his loneliness and given him that first taste of joy. She knew, because every time he mentioned Iruka-sensei, she could see it there beneath the sadness at his death. That same happiness.

As confusing (and at the same time simplistic) as Naruto was though, as _contradictory_ as he was, there was one thing Ino knew without a doubt. He needed a friend. A real friend, who would always be there for him no matter what, despite his idiocy, and his annoyingness, and his contradictory nature. And she had chosen to make it a goal to be that friend, because she had seen his smile, and it really did make the world a brighter place.

Once again, her thoughts were interrupted by Asuma-sensei's voice. "That's enough." The remaining clones poofed away, leaving a single grinning Naruto excitedly awaiting his evaluation. "First, I have a couple questions. One, who the _hell_ taught you that _that_ was taijutsu?" She could hear the anger clearly in his voice, directed not at the blonde, but his incompetent instructor, who would have to be...

"Mizuki-teme." His answer was short and to the point, and it was only because he happened to be facing towards her that Ino saw it, the flash of hatred in his eyes. And just like every other emotion Naruto experienced, it was powerful and deep. It was truly frightening, and she felt pity for whomever might have that look directed at them in the future. Then it was gone.

"I see. Well, the problem is that he taught you badly, almost definitely on purpose. In truth, you likely would have been better off with no instruction at all. I know someone who will likely be more than willing to help you fix this problem, though before I introduce you to him, you must promise me you absolutely will not take any advice from him on anything except taijutsu. We'll talk more about that later, though, as there was one other thing I wanted to ask you. Naruto, why don't you use any chakra to enhance your muscles?"

Naturally, this question caused entirely different reactions for the boy's teammates than for the boy himself. For all three, the first thought was a simple "_Huh?_" but for Ino and Kiba it continued "_What the _hell_?_" while for Naruto it was "_You can do that? Cool!_" The outward reactions were vastly different as well. The orange-clad boy used words. "Huh? You can do that? Cool!" The other just twisted their faces into identical expressions of pure disbelief.

"Yes, you can," Asuma-sensei answered. "Channeling chakra into a muscle drastically increases the force it is capable of generating." The boy's expression changed from one of excitement to one of 'what the hell language did you just speak?' "In other words, you can make your muscles stronger by sending chakra to them. But you have to be careful not to overdo it or you could end up seriously damaging your body. Anyway, why don't you give it a try now? Channel some chakra to your arm and chest muscles and punch me as hard as you can."

The blonde boy did as instructed. Asuma-sensei shifted a bit when the blow connected, but that was it. "Hmm, weird."

"What? What's weird? Did I not do it right, Asuma-sensei?"

"No, no. You did it properly. It just didn't work properly. Probably something to do with an irregularity in either your chakra or muscles. I'll look over your medical records in more detail and see if I can figure it out. You don't need to worry, though, because in terms of physical strength you're already a bit above what most new genin have even with chakra enhancement.

"Now that those two questions are out of the way, I can give you a proper evaluation." Naruto looked excited. "In short, you have an incredible amount of potential but are currently able to use almost none of it. You're strong, you have more chakra than just about anyone I've ever met, you have more stamina than someone your age should be capable of having, you recover extremely quickly and have exceptionally high pain tolerance, your reflexes are definitely above average, and you're clever; using Henge no Jutsu to change into a pebble is something I don't think anyone has ever thought to do before. The problems though are your horrendous taijutsu, the worst chakra control I've ever seen, and your tendency to not think about what you're doing. And while those are all major flaws, they're all things we can work on. Since I doubt you need any time to rest, I think we'll go straight on to the full team evaluation.

"Just so you all know ahead of time, this will be completely different. I won't be staying on the defensive almost all the time, and I won't hod back quite as much. Your goal is to incapacitate me in some way. It's now 9:00; you have until 11:30. Ready? Begin!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto had apparently decided to take the initiative in starting the fight. Two seconds after he had finished speaking, the Hokage's son found himself rained upon by countless short blonde boys for the second time that day. Unlike last time, though, he wasn't just going to stand there as they came at him. Instead, he took a more active role in thinning out the herd, all the while moving in the direction he'd seen his students retreat as soon as the orange swarm had appeared.

Asuma couldn't help it; he found himself really liking his new genin team. It wasn't the bucketloads of potential he could see in them as ninja, or the way they had bonded together so quickly despite coming from completely different places, or even the part where he could see a bit of his younger self in each of them. Those were just bonuses. What made him like them so much was the Will of Fire in each one of them. He had seen it earlier in that instant after Ino had explained the test when they had all glared at him. A glare that showed just how deeply his father's principles had been ingrained into their young minds and just how determined they were to follow those principles.

Right, this had gone on long enough. First double-checking to make sure the real genin weren't still somewhere in the crowd, the jonin went through a string of handseals.

"**Fuuton: Kaze Bakuha no Jutsu"** (wind element: wind explosion jutsu)

The 360 degree blast of chakra-infused air tore all the remaining clones to shreds in an instant, leaving him alone in the clearing. He did a quick search for his students' chakra signatures and was surprised to only find two of them. Stopping to do a deeper scan, he found the third. Naruto had somehow managed to lower his chakra levels to below what was considered normal even for an Academy student. It was only because the blonde's terrible control had him constantly leaking chakra even with this small an amount that the man picked up on it. No wonder the kid had always been so good at sneaking around to do his pranks. To most chunin, as long as he stayed out of sight and kept quiet, he would be completely invisible.

Oh, now this was interesting. All three were in the woods spread out relatively far apart, but they were in a near-perfect triangle shape. Not only that, but each one had a single shadow clone with them. Brilliant. He goes after one of them, the clone with that one dispels, notifying the others, who then come at him from behind. Nice to see the supposed worst student in the history of the Academy was finding creative uses for his newest jutsu. All right, he'd go along with their expectations, for now anyway. The bearded jonin headed in Kiba and Akamaru's direction.

He arrived at his destination only to be instantly beset upon by the Inuzuka pair, already both in Juujin Bunshin forms. He really hadn't been exaggerating when he had told the dog-user he was good with his clan jutsu.

Just as he had predicted, the others came in from behind within thirty seconds of his engaging the boy. Ino struck first, trying to take him from behind with a knockout chop to the neck. It might've worked if he were deaf. As it was, though, he settled for placing his elbow firmly between her ribs, knocking her away. He had told them he wouldn't stay on the defensive, after all.

Immediately afterward, Naruto came charging at him, kunai in hand. He met the blonde with a swift punch to the stomach, only for him to disperse into smoke. The kunai he had been holding, however, didn't. And wrapped around the base was an active exploding tag. Tricky little brat. He leapt upwards and backwards, out of the explosion range.

Kiba and Akamaru saw their chance and took it. The dog-nin and his companion launched themselves at him while he was still in midair. It was a nice tactic, one that even most high-level chunin would have trouble getting out of. He let the blows connect.

The bearded jonin realized that might have been a mistake when Naruto (or was it another kage bunshin?) came out of nowhere and threw a trio of shurikens his way. He deflected the first two with a kunai. The third missed. He turned to follow its trajectory only to see it about to slice through a wire he had somehow not noticed at all. Just before it broke, he followed its path only to lose it in the tree branches. He estimated, though, that whatever it was connected to was set up to hit the spot Kiba had redirected his flight towards.

The moment he landed, a weighted net came into view falling directly on top of his position. As he took out his trench knives and began to cut his way free, he spotted Ino again. She was going through the handseals for what he recognized as the Yamanaka clan Shintenshin no Jutsu. Surely she didn't think the net would delay him long enough for it to hit? Then, directly behind him (and right in the path of the girl's jutsu if he were to move), Naruto raised his chakra level back to what it usually was. Asuma turned to see the Kyuubi container smirking at him in victory. He couldn't dodge now, or the Shintenshin would hit the boy, and who knew what kind of effect that would have? This was it.

Well, it was time his genin learned that ninjas didn't always play by the rules. He sent one of his trench knives sailing lazily in the kunoichi's direction, forcing her to dodge. But the remaining shadow clone intercepted it, using his own body as a shield.

"**Shintenshin no Jutsu"**

Still one more option, though. He pulled a kawarimi with Kiba.

Of course, Akamaru was on him in less than a tenth of a second, and the swift assault bought the three genin the moments they needed to recuperate from their botched plan. They didn't give up just because of one failed plan, of course, but the later attempts weren't quite as well thought-out or effective. As time wore on, Naruto started doing more of the work, giving his tired teammates a chance to recover. To be honest, the bearded man was beginning to get annoyed by all the shouting of 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'

It was strange, Asuma mused, how he found himself looking forward to teaching the three young ninjas. He had put himself up as a possible jonin sensei more to appease his dad than anything else. After what he had put the man through in his more rebellious phase, he had a lot of making up to do, even now, years later. He just wasn't really the teaching type, he was too laid back to be any good at watching over and guiding fresh genin. Or so he had thought. These three, though, he found himself almost _excitedly _looking forward to instructing. Almost.

His plan had been to just keep everything normal, give them the test, go back to doing the occasional mission if they failed, or give them a few pointers here and there if they passed. But that was before meeting his new charges. He still couldn't believe he'd made himself leave his cigarettes behind just to appease the boys and their extra-sensitive noses.

"_I'll have to talk to Gai as soon as possible about Naruto,_" he thought idly while leaning out of the way of a flying punch from said student. "_Maybe he can include the kid in his early morning training sessions. But if he comes back shouting about youth..._" He chose to leave the mental threat unfinished in favor of dodging a kunai Ino had thrown before it deactivated its henge and returned to being a kage bunshin.

He'd also need to see Kurenai. She could instruct them in genjutsu far better than he ever could. Maybe they could start some kind of shared-instruction program for the new genin. Kakashi probably wouldn't join in, which was a shame, especially considering all the ninjutsu the man knew, but it wasn't a big deal. He'd share the idea with the other jonins later, maybe ask for his dad's opinion on it as well.

Oops. He had gotten so lost in thought that he lost track of some of the Narutos, including the original. He wondered where they could have gone, but there just wasn't time to search for them. Besides, he would just deal with whatever they might try when they showed up.

Going back to his earlier thoughts, he'd need to teach them the tree-climbing exercise soon. All three of them would be able to get a lot out of that, especially the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. They would also need to learn the different standard team formations and tactics because, while they seemed to work together with each other remarkably well (he put it down to them all having similarly assertive personalities) they'd also need to be able to work with other teams, should the situation arise. Other than that and making sure none of them neglected improving their basic skills and abilities... Hmm... Maybe he could introduce Naruto to Go. The blonde's unusual, out-of-the-box way of thinking would make for an interesting opponent. He probably wouldn't take so well to the more structured Shogi, but Ino might enjoy it.

Suddenly, two of the Naruto clones teamed up and used Gatsuga on him. Asuma had been so lost in thought that he was caught completely by surprise and couldn't avoid the hits. They didn't actually injure him, but they were disorienting enough that he needed half a second to figure out what was going on.

"**Shintenshin no Jutsu"**

Just like with Kiba and Akamaru, Ino had henged into Naruto. She had somehow puled off the jutsu from just inches behind his back without his even noticing. There was no time to do anything before he felt his own will forcefully pushed to the side. Sarutobi Asuma, Konoha jonin, son of the Hokage, and former member of the Twelve Ninja Guardians could do nothing but watch as his newly-graduated students tied him up with extra-strength chakra-absorbing wire before giving him back control of his body.

Naruto was standing directly in front of him. To the blonde's left was Kiba, Akamaru poking his head out of his partner's jacket, and to his right was the team's kunoichi, still getting to her feet after releasing her jutsu. All three were smiling.

"How was that, Asuma-sensei?" the short boy asked.

He laughed. These kids would be something amazing when they were older.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

The opening scene of this chapter was mostly to show Kiba's current view on his new teammates. Nothing else much to say about it. The flashback immediately following serves both to reiterate just how much Iruka's death is affecting the blonde boy, and since they're at the memorial stone, Kakashi of course shows up.

The first part of the next scene sets Ino up as the most level-headed member of team seven (usually). After that, I wanted to give readers an idea of how she fights, as well as giving her a chance to reflect on the other two, plus Asuma seems like the kind of person to test his students one at a time, so they had individual fights. Then, at the end, they all discover Naruto has super-strength, a fact he was completely ignorant of. His not being able to chakra enhance his strength was put in to keep him from being overpowered.

The fight at the end of the chapter is there to show the teamwork of my trio of genin, stressing that it's above average, and to introduce the shared-instructor plan.


	5. friends, senseis, and D ranked missions

**chapter 5**

**friends, senseis, and D-ranked missions**

"What the hell does grocery shopping have to do with being a ninja?" Naruto complained again. Not that either of his teammates could really blame him, as they shared his feelings exactly. Of course, they didn't express them quite as often, but their glares at Hokage-jiji when he had assigned this mission told the boy they were just as dissatisfied.

So far, in the six weeks team seven had been together, they'd done nothing but train and run these stupid errands. And occasionally go out for a meal together, usually at a BBQ place Asuma-sensei liked. Luckily, most of the staff didn't seem to mind the demon container's presence, though some of the other customers had given him their fair share of glares. The food was pretty good, he had to admit. While he'd pick Ichiraku Ramen any day of the week, Jiji's son had insisted that he needed more... what was the word... sustenance... in his meals.

"Oh stop your whining. At least we're not painting another fence." Ino seemed to enjoy countering anything he had to say. Course, he'd always find some way to throw her own words back at her, and it would turn into a kind of verbal sparring match between the blondes that was actually kind of fun. Kiba was always there in case they started to get out of hand, though.

"You just didn't like that mission because you got paint all over yourself," he retorted.

"Well that only happened because I was hurrying to try and fix your little experiment with contrasting colors before the client got back." She had a point there, but he had a better one.

"Oi! The lady actually liked that art, remember? She even gave us extra pay for it!" Ha! Let's see her get around that one!

"Well how was I supposed to know she was an artist?" Sorry Ino, that one just wouldn't work.

"Well the inside of her house _was_ filled with paintings, all with her name on them." He waited to see what she'd attempt next.

"Yeah, you're right. Guess I just didn't think things through enough." ...Huh? Giving up this early? That wasn't normal for either of them. Then again, maybe she was just so frustrated with these easy missions that she didn't feel up to continuing.

Naruto looked over the part of the grocery list he was responsible for getting. Personally, he still thought it was crazy that Yamada-san didn't want them to get her any ramen, but he wasn't about to question the client's taste (or lack of it) in food. Whatever. Maybe they'd be lucky and team ten would be doing a shopping mission now too; it would be nice if he were to run into Sakura-chan. Course, that would mean a chance of seeing Sasuke-teme as well, but he could deal with the stuck-up bastard as long as it was only every once in a while.

Out of their graduating class, only teams seven, eight, and ten had managed to pass the test. One out of three, just like Asuma-sensei had told them. Over the past few weeks, they'd run into Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chouji a lot more often than they had Kakashi's team, mostly because of the sensei-switch setup that had started several days after the team tests. Right now, it was just Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei in the program, but that could always change.

"_Hey, team," Asuma-sensei called out as he approached the waiting genin atop the Hokage monument. The bearded jonin liked to vary their meeting place from day to day and often took suggestions. Today's idea had come from Naruto. "We're going to be doing something a bit different this time, so follow me closely." He led them through the village towards the southern training grounds._

_Team seven found themselves in training ground thirteen, one of the smaller training grounds, an open field with a stream cutting through the middle of it. But they soon realized that they were not alone. The blue-eyed boy recognized the other group of people. One of them was the red-eyed lady he'd seen standing next to Asuma-sensei when they were split into teams, and the other three were Shikamaru, Chouji, and Hinata._

"_Morning!" he said energetically, grinning at his former classmates._

"_Morning -munch- Naruto, Ino, -munch- Kiba." Akamaru let out an indignant bark at being forgotten. "Oh, and you -munch- too, Akamaru."_

"_This is so troublesome. Hey guys." The lazy boy clearly wanted to be watching the clouds. What was up with that, anyway? Why couldn't he just enjoy life like any normal person._

"_H-hello Ino-san, Kiba-san, Akamaru-san, N-Naruto-kun." And why was Hinata always so eird and quiet? He'd have to remember to ask Ino sometime. She was a girl; she might know._

_Before his teammates had a chance to give their own greetings, Asuma-sensei spoke up, directing himself first at team eight. "Hello you three. I'm Sarutobi Asuma, jonin sensei to team seven. "Kiba, Naruto, Ino," he turned to us, then waved in the direction of the red-eyed lady. "This is Yuuhi Kurenai, jonin sensei to team eight and the best genjutsu user in Konoha."_

_The jonin kunoichi took that as her cue to speak. "Thank you for the introduction, Asuma. Now you are probably all wondering what we are going to do together. You see, this man here," she gestured at him, "has suggested an experiment. One or two days a week, jonin senseis with genin teams will give their team over to each other for instruction in areas they specialize in. Once every two weeks, the participating teams will compete in some way to see where they stand relative to each other. Currently, Asuma and myself are the only two jonins participating. Now, let's split. Team seven, come with me. Team eight, stay here." And so they found themselves following another jonin. It wasn't for very long this time, just to the next training field. Once there, she began instructing them in the creation, detection, and release of genjutsu. She also thanked them for getting Asuma-sensei to smoke less often._

Over the past few weeks of working with Kurenai-sensei, Naruto had found himself to have absolutely no talent when it came to using genjutsu. As a matter of fact, the best illusionist on their team, surprisingly, turned out to be Kiba. Not that the dog-boy was anything spectacular, but the red-eyed kunoichi had deemed him 'decent,' while Ino was 'acceptable,' and he himself 'hopeless.'

Not that he let it get him down, though. Because while he might not be able to cast the damn things, he had worked his way up to an acceptable label in detecting them and was undeniably excellent when it came to dispelling. Something about him having so much more chakra than his body could hold at any one time and that making the chakra come out with a lot of extra force when he went to dispel a genjutsu completely disrupting the fragile chakra creations as his chakra reached them. Not that that explanation had really made a lot of sense until Ino had told him it was like a fire-hose being sprayed against a wall of toilet paper. Speaking of Ino, it turned out she was pretty good at spotting the illusions, even if she happened to be rubbish at getting rid of them.

As for the bi-weekly competitions, they had won the first and lost the second (he never would have thought that the lazy Nara was so smart, or that Hinata's bloodline limit was so awesome). The third was scheduled for later that week.

His reminiscing shifted when he noticed Kiba walking down the other side of the aisle. After a brief smile in his friend's direction, he thought about how their relationship had changed over the past month and a half.

The two boys of team seven had become somewhat like what Naruto figured it would be like to have a brother. They competed with each other all the time but were never mean about it, and the winner wouldn't dream of degrading the loser. They also had fun just talking together about this and that, wether it was ninja related or even just what was going on in the latest issues of their favorite mangas.

Sparring with the Inuzuka and his companion was also really enjoyable. They were pretty evenly matched as long as the blonde didn't go heavy on the shadow clone usage. Kiba tended to fight against him with lots of quick, powerful strikes, using his greater speed to get away before Naruto got a hold of him. Whenever that happened, he could usually use his own superior physical strength to force the dog-boy to submit. As long as he could keep Akamaru away, that is. Of course, Kiba's hits, when they connected, never kept him down for long, but the short period of time would occasionally be enough for him to get a kunai at the blonde's neck For the most part, their fights boiled down to this: the first one to make a mistake lost, or Kiba would lose whenever the fight dragged on too long.

As for spars with Ino, the girl no longer kicked their asses quite as badly before she started getting tired, but she also took longer to get tired. The exercises Asuma-sensei had them do had seriously helped her stamina to improve. Of course, they had caused improvements in both boys as well, but nothing significant, unless you counted his own chakra control.

The first time they had seen Jiji's son walk right up a tree, all three genin had their mouths hanging open. When he told them they would be learning how to do that themselves, it was like getting a free meal at Ichiraku's. Amazing all of them (himself included), Kiba had gotten the hang of the exercise by his third try. On the opposite end of the scale, Naruto had managed to destroy three trees in his first five... er... three attempts. Once he had gotten the hang of it, though, tree-walking was much easier for the orange-clad boy than either of his teammates, and not just because of his huge chakra reserves. Unlike what some people seemed to believe, sticking to something with chakra did not negate the effects of gravity, so most genin needed to chakra-enhance their muscles slightly in order to do things like effortlessly keeping their bodies parallel to the ground. Doing this at the same time as channeling the proper chakra to one's feet was apparently pretty hard, but the Kyuubi container didn't need to worry about that thanks to his advanced muscles.

They still hadn't figured out what the deal was with those, either, but it was obvious by now that chakra enhancement didn't have any effect. He suspected the fox had something to do with it, though, because they were noticeably denser than muscles were supposed to be and 'capable of generating far greater force than should be physically possible, even taking into consideration their increased density.' Not like he could ask the fuzzball or anything, though. It was just a sensation in the back of his head, after all. Besides, he had earned his strength through the countless hours of intense physical training he had put himself through every single day during the Academy.

Asuma-sensei had taught them a lot more than just how to climb trees, though. He had shown the genin one of the signature ninjutsus of Konoha (well, more specifically of the Uchiha clan), Katon: Guokakyu no Jutsu. Unfortunately, the bearded jonin, after seeing the results of their attempts, declared that he wouldn't teach them any more jutsus until the Naruto had enough chakra control to not obliterate everything around him and the other two had enough chakra to not almost pass out afterwards.

Another thing team seven's sensei had done for his students was introduce them to Shogi and Go. He said something about how it would help them with strategizing, but Naruto didn't believe him. Shogi was just too confusing, with all the different pieces that could only move in certain ways, or moved in different ways in different situations, and all the pointless rules that had to be memorized. Go he could only enjoy when he played against a kage bunshin. For whatever reason, everyone else always liked to sit around forever before making each move, then usually doing exactly what he thought they would do all along, or when they did go fast, they played so badly there wasn't really any point. His fellow blonde, on the other hand, seemed to really like Shogi and had even started to beat Asuma-sensei evey once in a while the last couple weeks. Then there was Kiba, who refused to play either game unless forced to. He wasn't very good at Go, though, and barely better than Naruto when it came to Shogi.

Having finished going through his part of the grocery list (he could swear Yamada-san must be related to Choji's family in some way to need this much food), the ramen addict went over to the ckeckout line to meet up with his teammates.

"Find everything?" the blue-eyed girl asked.

"Yup. You?" he answered/asked, grinning triumphantly.

"No problem."

When their remaining teammate was strangely silent (as was his dog), they both rounded on him. "Kiba?"

Said boy looked down dejectedly. "I... couldn't find the garlic." Akamaru whimpered. Ino exploded.

"You couldn't find the _garlic_?! You with your sense of smell that's a hundred times better than a normal human's couldn't find something that smells as much as _garlic_?!" Nartuo put a hand on her shoulder, restraining the girl before she resorted to physical violence.

"Give him a bit of a break, Ino. With all these different scents packed into one large room and the ventilation blowing them all about randomly, it must be pretty damn confusing for him. It's bad for me, and Kiba's nose is at least five times stronger than mine."

She made a frustrated sound. "Fine. _I'll_ go get the garlic. You two wait here."

The blonde stomped off angrily. "Thanks, Naruto."

"You're welcome. Hey, you know garlic repels vampires?"

Kiba gave him that look that meant he'd just said something unbelievably obvious, stupid, or weird. "Idiot. _Everyone_ knows that."

Obvious apparently. "Well I didn't," the Kyuubi container muttered.

That was yet another thing he could thank Asuma-sensei for. The man had almost immediately picked up on what he called Naruto's 'lack of basic education,' most notably that he still had some difficulties reading. So he had made the boy do just that, since the best way to get better at something was to practice. At first, he had hated it, but he didn't really mind so much anymore.

Sensei had made him read from books and scrolls almost constantly. Before bed, when relaxing, while running, doing pushups, in the bathroom... And on all sorts of subjects, ninja-related or not, fiction, non-fiction, the dictionary (That one was an ongoing project. To make it more interesting, he would choose pages to read completely at random.), just about every type of book under the sun. Except those little orange books. Those he had actually been _prohibited_ from reading.

As a result, a lot of blanks in his general knowledge were slowly being filled in, and his vocabulary was expanding. He tried to use any new words he picked up as often as possible, so as to get used to them faster.

"I'm back. Let's go check out." Ino dragged him from his reminiscing. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today. Reminiscing. It was almost like he were a character in a story, and the author was just using his brain as a way to get through writing a lot of long, potentially boring stuff as fast as possible and keep the plot and action of the story flowing while still getting all the important details to the readers. And the whole reason for his reading could have been so that the author had a much larger selection of words to choose from when writing from his point of view. Wow. That would be crazy if it were true.

By the time he had thought this out, his teammates had already finished buying the food. That was the way they did shopping missions. Ino and Kiba would take care of the checkout, while he carried part of each of their shares of whatever it was they were buying. It had ended up that way because, the first time the team had had a mission like this, they had seen how the cashier had treated Naruto. When he explained that it was normal, they had insisted on (after he forced them out of the store to keep them from attacking said cashier) his not going in front of a cash register during missions, despite his protests that he was used to the treatment. For whatever reason, that comment had just made them angrier, especially Ino. He wasn't about to let his friends do something for him without doing something for them in return, though, so he had insisted on carrying some of their things in return.

And that was why Naruto could be seen walking down the street with eight bags of groceries held in his arms.

"Ah, Naruto-kun! How are you this youthful afternoon?" Damn it. Damn it all to hell. The one person in the whole of Konoha he least wanted to see him in his current situation.

"Hey, Fuzzy-brows. I'm good. How are you?"

"My fires of youth are burning brightly today! Is this a youthful new training exercise you are attempting?" Great; now Lee would probably turn up to their morning workout with ten grocery bags full of rocks for each of them. He knew from experience that trying to convince the older genin that it was just part of a mission would be useless, so he went along with it.

"Yeah." He could swear the boy's pupils lit on fire.

"YOSH! In that case, my youthful friend, I shall prepare twenty four grocery bags full of rocks, twelve for each of us, for our training tomorrow morning!" Damn it. And he had been off by two.

"Well, have a good time." It wasn't like he was opposed to the exercise itself. There were just more efficient and saner ways of doing the exact same thing. He ran off, probably to find the grocery bags and rocks.

"How can you stand to spend six whole hours with that lunatic every morning?" Kiba asked as Akamaru returned from his hiding place inside the boy's jacket.

No matter how strange he might be, Fuzzy-brows was still a friend. "Hey, Lee's not like that most of the time... sometimes... occasionally... Okay, so he's pretty much always like that. He's still a decent guy once you look past the insanity and the spandex. Wait, scratch that. _Don't_ look past the spandex."

The orange-clad boy had first met Lee and Gai-sensei two days after the team test. It was an experience he would remember for the rest of his life.

* * *

comments: (note that comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

I don't have much to say about chapter five. In fact, I went so far as to blatantly state the chapter's entire purpose within the writing of the chapter itself. Other than that, I like the team seven interaction I have here, and the flashback with Kurenai and team eight was hard to write. I had originally meant to actually show her teaching them genjutsu but couldn't figure out a good way to write it.


	6. the noble beasts of Konoha

**chapter 6**

**the noble beasts of Konoha**

It was a few minutes before four in the morning, and Naruto and his sensei were waiting in training ground 38. "Now Naruto, before I introduce you to Gai, you must promise-"

"I must promise not to imitate him in any way, shape, or form, except whatever taijutsu he teaches me and maybe parts of his work ethic. For the three hundred and ninety second time, I promise, okay? Now could you please tell me what's so bad that I need to promise THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO FREAKING TIMES?"

Asuma-sensei removed his fingers from his ears before answering. "It's not something that can be explained with just words. I'm sorry for having to do this to you, but Maito Gai, despite everything else, is quite possibly the best taijutsu specialist and instructor in the entire world. He will be able to help you in that area far more than I ever could. They're coming, prepare yourself"

That was when Naruto noticed a dust cloud that seemed to be closing in on their location at an extremely rapid pace. A few seconds later, he heard the voices, growing louder as time went on.

"YOSH! Lee, your flames of youth are burning strongly this youthful morning!"

"Of course, Gai-sensei! For today I am to meet another youthful genius of hard work!"

"_What _the hell_?_" the blonde thought. Then he actually saw the speakers.

Words could not properly describe them.

He turned to Asuma-sensei for help only to find that the man had abandoned him.

"Ah, you must be the youthful Naruto-kun! My good friend Asuma has asked me to fan your flames of youth and instruct you in the art of taijutsu! I am Konoha's noble blue beast Maito Gai. And this is my beloved student, Rock Lee!"

Eyebrows! Too much eyebrows!

"Naruto-kun!" it was the mini-Gai that spoke, "come and join us in our youthful morning exercises! Let us sweat our youth's swear together!"

He almost ran away. Only the thought of just how much he would be able to learn from this kept him there. Then, making full use of all the determination he had gained from his hard life, he answered them, grinning. "Sure. I'll join you."

An hour and a half later found him standing with the two weirdoes in training ground 6. He was breathing a bit hard after the long run followed immediately by a thousand each of pushups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and squats. Nothing half a minute's rest wouldn't fix. Unfortunately, the spandex-wearing jonin assaulted his eardrums before he could get it.

"YOSH! Naruto-kun, to keep up with us through our entire warm-up, your flames of youth truly do burn as brightly as Asuma had told me!" Next to the man, Lee was giving the blonde a look of pure respect and eagerness.

He decided then and there. As weird as these two were, they were important to him, just like Ino, Kiba, Asuma-sensei, Sakura-chan, Jiji, Konohamaru...

It was amazing how in such a short amount of time that list of precious people had expanded so much, and he now added two more names.

"Now, before we go any further, there is something I must give to you Naruto. Lee, you should make your way through the beginning drills. I will join you soon." That was when he realized a strange side-effect of Gai-sensei's constant shouting. When he talked at a normal volume, he seemed much more serious. He was also holding two pairs of metal bracelets, one pair a good bit larger than the other. "These are basic chakra weights. They are designed so that... well, it would probably make more sense if you just experienced it for yourself. Put them on your wrists and ankles. Good, now channel chakra into them, slowly." He did as instructed. As his chakra went into the bracelets, he could feel his body getting heavier. "Stop when you reach the point where moving normally requires a bit of effort." He kept up the chakra flow for about ten more seconds before he felt like he had the right amount. "Very good, Naruto. Since I do not yet know what style of taijutsu to teach you, and therefore what muscle groups you should focus on, I have given you a set that spreads the extra weight proportionately through your body. You are to wear these at all times. When you no longer feel the constant strain on your muscles, increase the amount of chakra in them."

When the jonin paused for a moment, the blue-eyed boy spoke up. "Gai-sensei, I have a question about these chakra weights." The look he gave said to continue. "If they're really increasing my weight by this much, won't it be a problem when it comes to tree hopping? I don't think the less sturdy branches would be able to take the extra weight."

The taijutsu expert laughed, although Naruto couldn't see what was so funny. "Very observant, you are. But chakra weights like these are designed to only increase the weight from the wearer's point of view. While to you they may be adding a hundred pounds or so, to the rest of the world it is only the weight of the bracelets themselves.

"Now, I have heard from your sensei that a very unyouthful man has sabotaged your taijutsu training for several years now. Show me." He sank into the taijutsu stance Misuki-teme had taught him.

Gai-sensei looked furious. It wasn't directed at him, of course, but he could feel the anger rolling off of the man in waves anyway. All he did was ask a question. "Does that stance feel natural to you, Naruto?"

The blonde though about it for a minute. Even with all the days of accumulated time he had spent standing like this throughout his time at the Academy, it had never felt quite right to him. "No, Gai-sensei."

"Good. At least we will not have to make your body unlearn it then." The anger faded away as he said this. "Now shift into a stance that does feel natural."

Naruto bent his knees by about forty five degrees, putting the right foot straight in the direction he was facing. His left leg rotated outward around twenty five degrees, and the foot went down approximately one-and-a-halt times shoulder width away. He leaned his upper body forward ever so slightly then, drawing his shoulders back the tiniest bit put his right hand out in front of him level with the middle of his chest and his left close to his body, just below the base of his ribcage in height. Both elbows were bent seventy five degrees, and his hands were halfway between being flat open and clenched in a fist. The whole procedure took a bit under a second.

Gai-sensei's eyes widened, and for just an instant, he dropped a guard on his emotions that Naruto hadn't even known was there. In those eyes, he saw a mix of disbelief, confusion, recognition, and amazement all at once, followed by realization before the guard was back up. As curious as the blonde was about the sudden reaction, he was smart enough to know that asking questions would be a very bad idea.

"All right," the taijutsu expert said abruptly, "I believe I have found the style best suited to you. It is called the dancing wave fist. While I will not go into the details right now, I will tell you that I am the only person alive who knows enough about this style to teach it. Today I will show you the basics, and you will work on them until your body knows them without thought. That stance you are in right now is actually the central stance of the entire style. Now watch closely." He moved over to one of the nearby training logs and shifted into the same stance Naruto was in. He then demonstrated a straight punch with the right, followed by another straight punch with the left. Next he shifted his left side to forward and did another two punches, this time left first then right. Finally, he switched back to his original position. "Now you come here and give it a try."

Naruto did as asked. Gai-sensei went behind him and made small adjustments to his stance, explained the little details like what part of his fist should make contact with the wood, how his body and arm should move with each punch, and in general made sure the blonde could do it perfectly before moving on.

"Good. Now, I want you to repeat that as many times as you can, making sure to do it correctly each time. When you begin to tire, stop and come let me know. For now, I must go work with Lee." the jonin instructed.

"Understood, Gai-sensei," Naruto said back, before the rhythmic sound of his fists hitting wood filled the immediate area.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

To tell the truth, Rock Lee was a bit disappointed. When Gai-sensei had told him yesterday that a youthful new student would be joining them in the mornings, he had felt his flames of youth burning with the desire to spar with a potential new rival. And after Sensei hat told him of Naruto-kun's situation, he had begun looking forward to it even more. To think that even after years of improper learning from a truly unyouthful man, he still had not given up on the noble art of taijutsu. On meeting the orange-clad boy, his anticipation had risen to entirely new levels, seeing just how very youthful he was.

But now, even though they were training at the same time and under the same sensei, they were for some reason training separately.

"Lee." Gai-sensei forced him from his thoughts, "What is troubling you?"

Gai-sensei was truly amazing to pick up on his feelings so easily. "Sensei, I am feeling... disappointed. Why will you not allow me to spar with Naruto-kun?"

The man who had saved his life and given him his dream looked down on him, his eyes changing from concerned to understanding. "So that is it, then. You can see Naruto-kun's flames of youth and wish to pit yourself against him. I am sorry, but at this point in time there would be no point in doing so. Naruto-kun has been so severely hampered by his past unyouthful training that a fight between the two of you would serve no purpose to either." Lee's face fell. "Give him one week, then I will allow you to spar."

His head shot right back up, anticipation running through him. "O-One week? You mean it, Gai-sensei?"

"Ha! Not only do I mean it..." Then Gai-sensei did something that made the young taijutsu user overflow with joy. He did the Nice Guy Pose. "I promise!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!" And they had their arms wrapped tightly around each other, weeping under the setting sun.

"Now, Lee," Gai-sensei said, returning them to the training field, "it is time to show me how much stronger you have grown since yesterday!"

"YOSH!" They both assumed a basic goken stance before darting forward.

Truly Gai-sensei was a magnificent example of the power of youth. Every time he sparred with the jonin, he could feel his power, like a physical force, constantly radiating from him. And to think that this was just a fraction of what he was truly capable of! As they exchanged blows, Lee renewed his personal vow to someday become just like Gai-sensei. Both teacher and student lost themselves in the constant flow of punches, kicks, blocks, and dodges.

"That's enough, Lee!" Already? Where had the time gone?

Then Gai-sensei frowned. "I am worried about Naruto-kun. Did you notice? He has not once slowed down in his strikes." Indeed, the sound of fist hitting wood once every second had been constant throughout their entire spar. They went over to where the blonde boy was training.

Lee felt his eyes widen in amazement. Naruto-kun was standing in an unfamiliar stance, doing a basic forward punch-back punch-shift exercise, but the amazing part was the concentration he was putting into it. Like the entire world consisted of nothing but the motions of his body. His fists had worn down a hole several inches deep in what had been an unblemished training log just hours before, and the green-clad boy could clearly see blood and bits of skin on the wood. Looking at his knuckles, he could easily make out the off-white of bone where the blonde's fists were making contact. The only sign that he was in any pain was a brief grimace the moment a fist made contact. There was no denying that Uzumaki Naruto was truly a genius of hard work.

"Naruto! Stop!" The boy's blue eyes looked at Gai-sensei in confusion, hearing the worry in his voice.

"What's wrong, Sensei?"

Lee just stood there and slipped into a sort of half-shocked state as Gai-sensei explained to the whisker-marked boy about the dangers of overtraining and pushing one's body too hard could lead to serious injuries. Naruto insisted that he was fine, then Sensei pointed out what he'd done to his knuckles, only for the boy to shrug and say it would heal.

"Lee! We are going to go straight to cooldown exercises now, as there is something I need to discuss with Hokage-sama after we are finished. Naruto-kun, I will give you a scroll tomorrow with the details of the dancing wave fist. But for now, let us run with the power of youth!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

By the end of the so-called 'cooldown exercises,' Naruto found himself barely able to move. While it was only half of what they'd done to warm up, the addition of the chakra weights had forced him to push himself to his limits the whole time in order to keep up with the taijutsu specialists. He couldn't deny that the chakra weights were awesome, though; the blonde hadn't been able to work his body to _this _level of physical exhaustion in almost two years.

"Well... ...I'll see you two tomorrow... ...Gai-sensei, Lee," he gasped out between large breaths.

"Indeed my youthful new friend!" What was with the two of them and youth, anyway?

"YOSH! Lee, be sure to tell your teammates I will be late to our meeting. Now, Springtime of Youth Dash!" And they were off. Insane...

Well, now he had about fifteen minutes to recover before he needed to meet up with Ino and Kiba. They'd definitely get a kick out of hearing about the two crazies. Now where was the meeting spot supposed to be again?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day, Gai-sensei had kept to his word about a scroll, and the blonde decided to use it as his reading material for Asuma-sensei's requirement. While it didn't have much on stances or moves (Gai-sensei had explained that he didn't want the boy practicing those without him around to correct mistakes) it did go into detail about the style's purpose and principles.

The dancing wave fist, Naruto concluded, was awesome. It focused on a strong, fluid offensive to badly damage or even take out an opponent the first time they left an opening. Defense was handled mostly by either dodging or just taking the blows and continuing on instead of blocking, requiring the user to either be really fast or really tough.

It was also one of a very small number of taijutsu styles to include stuff for extreme close-range combat. Like, get-right-up-in-your-opponent's-face-so-they-have-no-time-to-do-anything close. That was part of why the hands were kept in that sort of halfway position, for grabs and whatnot.

In addition to that, while all the basic moves were precisely optimized for speed and strength, much of the style was more free and open, allowing for on-the-spot improvisation, something which Naruto was apparently very good at.

Finally, the dancing wave fist was made so that the user could easily add ninjutsu into it. That was another reason for the hands. Faster to move your fingers into the handseals. Naturally, the idea of throwing in kage bunshins with the already powerful style would havehad the ramen-loving boy jumping for joy, had he not been in the middle of doing pushups with Gai-sensei and Lee when he thought of it.

Then, at the end of the scroll, there was something that actually _did _make the blue-eyed boy pause. Two words, specifically, the scroll's author. Namikaze Minato. He was learning a style the Yondaime Hokage had used. Oh yeah, he was an awesome ninja!

The main part of the early morning training sessions (Fortunately, Naruto had never really needed much sleep, so going to bed at 11:00 and getting up at 3:30 wasn't really a problem Besides, less sleep meant less nightmares.) for the first week would be spent learning more of the basic strikes and movements of the dancing wave fist. After the first time, though, Gai-sensei never let him practice any one thing for more than a half hour straight. Oh well, he could always do a bit more later on his own, since he now had at least a basic grasp of the motions. Also, during the week, he got used to the warmup and cooldown routines to the point where he could still function normally afterwards.

During that time, the blonde had needed to increase his chakra weights once, as around the fifth day he noticed that he could tree-jump without the constant strain he should have been feeling. Gai-sensei had also explained that his requirement of keeping the weights on at all times wasn't quite correct. Every once in a while, it was a good idea to take them off and train for a bit, so as to be used to his body's real limits. Having to adjust to something like that in the middle of a serious figh for the first time had gotten many young ninjas killed over the years. Also, Naruto had gotten extra sets of chakra weights from the jonin for his teammates. While they couldn't set them to anywhere near as high a level as his own (otherwise, they'd have to be chakra-enhancing all their muscles 24-7, something neither could probably do for more than a minute without suffering from chakra exhaustion), the things had still been really helpful to both of them, especially when it came to improving Ino's stamina.

At the end of the first week, though, it came time for something Naruto had long been looking forward to. He got to start sparring with Lee. He'd seen the boy and his larger version going at it a lot recently and was excited to finally be able to face the other genin himself. By the way the bowl-cut haired boy was acting, he was just as excited.

"Hey, Fuzzy-brows, you ready for this?" he asked, smiling at his opponent as he sank into the opening stance of the dancing wave fist. He had told himself that, despite the style being made to incorporate ninjutsu, he'd keep kage bunshin out of it. If his friend was limited to taijutsu then he would be too, for now anyway.

"Naruto-kun, my flames of youth have been burning with the desire to clash with your own since the moment we met!" While a simple 'yes' would've been enough, he should have known to expect that. Besides, Lee was smiling too as he sank into his own goken stance.

The young blonde felt his body shifting into combat mode. Senses sharpened, muscles tensed slightly, adrenaline started pumping, blood and chakra flow sped up, the world slowed down a bit and came more into focus as his brain shifted into high gear. Naruto wasn't going to deny it; he loved this feeling.

"YOUTH CLASH!" Apparently, that was Gai-sensei's signal to begin. Both boys dashed forward, and Naruto started with a swift right hook towards the older genin's side, where he wouldn't be able to block in time...

The kick was _fast!_ It came completely out of nowhere, and the orange-clad boy only just had time to reinforce the side of his torso with chakra before it hit. Naruto knew that, because of his chakra disability, Lee had to wear weights that were real, and the extra force from the heavy weight added on to the already-powerful kick would have seriously hurt.

As it was, he just ended up with a bad ache that would be gone in a minute. The real problem was that the kick had sent him flying. Needed to do something about that. Sensing a tree coming up, he twisted to land on it feet first. He may not have been able to do that chakra control exercise very well yet, but he could at least do it well enough to stay in one place for a second.

Lee came at him again immediately, leaping towards his position on the tree. Naruto pushed off to meet the large-eyebrowed boy, gravity giving him the advantage. Or so he thought. Again his opponent's significantly (he liked that word, just learned it last night) greater speed won out as he twirled vertically backwards in midair, his foot hitting the blonde in the lower back.

This blow hurt a bit more than the first. He hadn't been able to pinpoint where it would hit until the instant before and had been forced to settle for a lower chakra concentration over a wider area. Somehow, the angle of the kick had sent him in a spin towards the ground. Naruto landed with a handspring followed by a midair twist to face the older genin, who had just pushed off the tree he himself had been on moments before.

The taijutsu-only ninja was heading straight for him. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to dodge an air attack when he couldn't even dodge a ground attack, and that attempting to hit an opponent in the air while grounded was pointless, and that he didn't have time to lauch an air attack of his own, _and_ that Lee's strikes (going by the last two exchanges) were too fast for him to counter, Naruto took the only remaining option at the moment and leapt back.

Immediately afterwards, though, they were both coming at each other head-on again, the blonde paying extra attention to his opponent's legs. The older genin must have noticed this, though, as he went for a straight punch to the chest with his right. Naruto saw it coming, though, and just barely managed to twist out of the way to his own right. Finding himself now right next to the other boy, he struck out with his right elbow, aiming directly for Lee's ribs. Lee, though, reacted instantly, pushing away with his left foot. While the strike still connected, the power behind it was reduced a lot by the fact that he was moving with it.

The fight kept on going in this fashion, with Lee hitting Naruto, or Naruto dodging and scoring a glancing blow on Lee, for a long time. Eventually, both boys realized that neither would be winning anytime soon. Lee was too fast and skilled for Naruto to get any good hits on him, and Naruto was too durable and used to pain to be slowed down by the hits he was taking. And while the blonde would eventually be able to outlast his opponent, they didn't have all day.

But there was _no way_ the blue-eyed Uzumaki was about to let this end without at least getting one good blow. What could he do, though? Straight-up taijutsu wasn't enough, and he'd promised himself not to use kage bunshin... That was it!

As the two genin came at each other again, Naruto started a punch with his left far earlier than would normally make sense. Lee was clearly confused by the strange action, but then the right hand moved to join the left ever-so-briefly in mid-punch, fingers on each one shifting into a handseal.

"**Henge"**

Now, normally, the henge needs three handseals, but if one happens to be really good at it (and Asuma-sensei had told him his henge was better than that of many _jonins_), the first two handseals can be skipped.

So, in a poof of smoke, the blonde kept most of himself the same but made his left arm twice as long. The reason why ninjas don't normally use henges like this in combat is because the henged body part is only capable of about one-third the normal force. Also, the way the henge works is that it needs an exponentially increasing amount of chakra as the differences between actual mass and volume and henged mass and volume increases linearly (Not that Naruto knew what all those words meant yet, but he got the basic idea. Hengeing into something really big or something really small took a lot of chakra.). Since his goal here was just to land a hit, and the chakra cost was pretty much nothing compared to his huge reserves, those downsides didn't really mean anything.

Just as he'd hoped, Lee had no time to react to the suddenly-lengthened arm and took the punch right in the chest. It knocked him into the air and back about nine feet. Another poof of smoke and his arm was back to normal, and the from before the spar came back to his face. The older boy was once again smiling back. They had somehow silently agreed to end there for the day.

"Good work, both of you." Gai sensei looked at each boy individually as he spoke to him. "Lee, now perhaps you see why I did not have you spar with Naruto earlier. Without his current level of speed and proficiency, it would have been like fighting a moving training dummy." As much as the orange-loving boy wanted to protest that, he knew it was true. "Naruto-kun, I know that you can use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Why did you not make use of it?" The look he was giving him was a stern one.

The blonde's hand went up to the back of his neck. "Well, y'see, since Fuzzy-brows can't use ninjutsu, I didn't wanta use any of my own. To keep it fair, ya'know? So I promised myself before we started that I wouldn't use kage bunshin. That henge at the end there was just because I didn't want it to end without getting in even one proper hit."

"Naruto-kun, while I approve of your youthfulness in respecting my Lee's disadvantage and wanting to rmain fair, you must remember that in a serious fight, keeping something back out of respect for your opponent may-"

"May get me or my teammates killed, yes I know. But Fuzzy-brows isn't an enemy, he's my friend, and I'm gonna fight him as a friend!" He glared defiantly at the jonin, daring him to question what he'd just said.

Before the bowl-cut haired man spoke, though, his smaller version chose to add in his own thoughts. "Naruto-kun, while your youthful decision to place yourself under my handicap in our spars is one I can respect, I would like to see this Kage Bunshin no Jutsu at some point so I can test myself against your full power."

The fox-boy smirked. "Sure thing, Lee! I'll show you when we spar tomorrow!" "_And watch you get your ass kicked!_" he added in his mind.

"YOSH! Good, you two, but for now we must move on to our cooldown exercises!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" the two genin shouted before all three started running.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day, Naruto's clones did indeed kick Lee's ass. One thing Asuma-sensei had had him working on since the beginning was coordinating attacks between two and three clones at once to get in hits his opponents would be incapable of avoiding (as long as the power gap between them wasn't too large, anyway). For future spars, the no ninjutsu policy was back in place..

Now, their training sessions would consist of an hour and a half of warmup, an hour of Gai-sensei overseeing their practice on their separate styles, an hour forty five minutes of sparring between the two, and forty five minutes of cooldown. A couple weeks after their first spar, Naruto was good enough to hit Lee occasionally, and now they had reached the point where they were trading blows almost equally. The spars still always ended in a draw, though.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Back to the present, team seven was standing in Jiji's office, having delivered Yamada-san's groceries to her. When they had given her the food, the Kyuubi container had taken special note of the lack of glare she gave him. Apparently, six weeks of what basically amounted to community service was enough to start convincing some people that he wouldn't be sprouting fur and tails anytime soon.

Still, despite the effect the D-ranks were having on the blonde's reputation, he felt more than ready for something better. As soon as this mission was officially complete, he'd convince Jiji to give them a C-rank.

"Good work, team seven. That makes ninety D-ranks in a little less than a month and a half." The old man sounded like he was praising them. If he thought they were so good, why not give them something better then? "Asuma, do you think your team is ready for something a bit more challenging?"

Naruto felt his eyes widen in surprise and excitement. Was Jiji a mind reader or something? Next to him, Ino and Kiba had the same looks on their faces. Then, realizing just who would be making the decision, turned to Asuma-sensei. Again, their expressions were identical, but this time it was pleading with a not-so-hidden threat of pain and embarrassment if he didn't agree.

"Sure, they can take on a harder mission."

The bearded jonin found himself in a three-way-hug from his students. "Thnk you very much, Asuma-sensei!" they gave their gratitude as one.

Hokage-jiji chuckled. "Clearly they're very ready. This mission request arrived just a couple hours ago. I want you four packed and out of the village by no later than 5:30." He took out a scroll and handed it to his son.

Naruto's sharp eyes could have read the label just fine from the far side of the room.

B-rank.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

Chapter six is the stuff that was too long to include in with chapter five. Naruto training under Gai, getting a taijutsu style, and an action scene between him and Lee, because I knew those would be missing for the next couple chapters. Then they get a B-rank.

Also, you'll note that when we come out of the flashback, they are finishing up the D-rank they were on last chapter.


	7. Hidden Tree village

**chapter 7**

**the Hidden Tree village**

The genin of team seven were gathered at Konoha's main gate, each one with a fully-stuffed backpack on their backs i addition to their normal gear. As usual, they had all arrived a bit early and were waiting for their sensei, who always arrived on time, unlike a certain grey-haired jonin they'd met once and heard many rumors about since.

"B-rank! B-rank! B-rank! We're going on a B-OW!" Naruto's dance of joy was brought to an abrupt halt by his teammate's fist on his head.

"We get it already you knucklehead, now shut up!" ordered the girl who had just hit him. Still, he could tell she was excited about the new mission as well.

As were Kiba and Akamaru. "B-rank... Wouldn't it be awesome if it were, like, taking out a rogue nin who'd stolen something from the Daymio or something?"

"Sorry, you three, but it's only a B-rank because of importance," Asuma-sensei dashed their hopes as he walked up. "In fact, there's almost no chance we'll see any serious fighting on this mission at all." Their hopes and heads fell further. "However, we _are_ going to an allied Hidden Village, though, so..." He trailed off, letting them imagine.

"Really? Really? Which one? Is it Sand? Or Waterfall? Or Smoke? Or-" But the bearded jonin interrupted him.

"Sorry, Naruto, but it's one of the smaller, lesser-known ones. The Hidden Tree."

"Huh, never heard of that one." the blonde boy felt himself calming down.

"How'd you even hear about the others, Naruto? If I remember correctly, you were hopeless in geography classes!" the Inuzuka teased.

"Oi! I'll have you know that I know 'em cause I know what villages the Hokages made alliances with! Where is Tree, anyway?" The last bit was quieter, directed at Asuma-sensei.

"It's in Mountain Country, to the northeast." He'd added the last bit purely for Naruto's sake. Kiba hadn't been kidding when he said he sucked at geography, or at least at reading maps.

"Wait a minute, Asuma-sensei," Ino spoke up. "If we're going to Mountain Country, why are we at _the _west gate? Wouldn't it be better to leave from the _east_ gate?" They'd all gotten to know their sensei well enough over the past six weeks to make a good guess as to what he'd say, so all three were now looking at him expectantly and a bit sternly.

The man nervously scratched at the back of his neck. Huh, apparently habits could be contagious, who'd have thought it? "Well, there wasn't anything about a need to hurry, and going out any of the other gates is such a hassle..."

The shared looks of disappointment on the genins' faces was enough to tell that they had in fact all guessed the same thing, and guessed correctly. While they'd managed to partially cure their sensei's laziness it was still a large part of him, like the smoking. He just usually avoided both when around his students.

A quick check-in with the chunin on guard duty, and they were off.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Once the four ninjas were leaping through the trees at a comfortable pace, Kiba, from his position at the front of the group, asked the question the younger members of team seven all had on their minds. "So, Sensei, we know where we're going, but what's the mission?"

"It's a type four aid request from Hidden Tree." Type four... That meant there was a serious situation, but not an immediate emergency, and that combat wasn't involved. Damn. The dog-boy looked back at his teammates to see if they had gotten it as well. The two blondes nodded. Of course. He still had to remind himself occasionally that Naruto wasn't stupid. Oh, and that fact was something from one of Iruka-sensei's classes, so the blonde boy had likely remembered it before he did. Kiba and Ino still had yet to ask him about the night the scar-faced Academy instructor had died... Maybe after they got back from this mission.

"They're going to send someone to meet us at an inn about thirty five miles away to lead us to the village, and the situation will be explained there. However, the request also specified the need for a ninja with mind abilities and one with abnormally large chakra reserves." Asuma-sensei concluded as the Inuzuka turned back forward and continued his duty of checking for suspicious scents.

"Huh. Might as well have asked for us by name," he muttered.

"Grrrff! /_what if they're planning an ambush?_/"

Kiba was about to voice his partner's concerns for the others when the jonin added one more thing. "And just in case any of you are wondering if there's something odd about that, you shouldn't worry. Attacking us while on an aid mission would be considered an act of war, and Tree isn't going to risk that, no matter who might be on the team."

They continued on, chatting about this and that, until, when Naruto was in the middle of telling them about how he'd gotten Konohamaru to dye his grandfather's robes orange, another important question popped into Kiba's head. "Hey, Asuma-sensei, how long will it take to get there?"

The man seemed to consider it for a moment. "At our current speed? About five or six days."

Five or six days... That was a long time to be spending constantly in the presence of the same three people. He was glad it was his team at any rate. Hopefully the two blondes wouldn't get into too many arguments, and double hopefully Asuma-sensei would be able to go the whole time without smoking. Still, he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

It was a few hours later, not too long after it got dark, when the jonin told them to find a place to camp. Lazy as he could be at times, he pretty much never missed an opportunity to throw in a bit of extra training. So Kiba and Akamaru guided them toward the closest body of water (a gently-flowing river cutting through the forest) because baths and drinking water were extremely important to ninjas during a mission. Then, with the help of a couple dozen Narutos, they set up camp. Finally, the same blonde brought in a deer for dinner, which Ino, who had long since been convinced that dieting was bad for her, cooked (being the only one of the genin who knew how). Since they were still fairly close to Konoha, there wasn't any need to worry about the smell or smoke attracting unwanted attention. Any bandits that tried to get at them, well, an Academy student would be able to take care of a small group of plain old thieves.

Naruto offered to take the early night and early morning watches, since he was usually up then anyway, and Asuma-sensei took the late night. Then they all talked for a bit more before going to bed.

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Ino found she'd made a mistake in setting up her tent. She'd placed it so that the morning sunlight would slip right in past the entry flap and hit her dead on in the face. Of course, she only learned this _after_ waking up, but the blonde knew there was no point trying to get back to sleep now. She could hear what was probably Naruto sparring with his kage bunshins somewhere a little bit away, if the distant sounds of fighting mixed with poofs were any indication. Might as well get up and go see him.

So she stepped out of the tent, the fresh morning air blowing away the last vestiges of sleep. She looked around. It was a nice day out; it would probably get a bit hot if the current temperature was anything to go by, but that was to be expected, seeing as it was mid-summer. At least most of the day would be spent jumping through trees. Shade _and_ wind, both at the same time. The kunoichi followed the sound of her teammate beating himself to a pulp.

She walked through the woods a ways, going towards the sounds of battle. Apparently, he was in a clearing just up ahead. As she made her way out of the trees, Ino shouted a greeting. "Morning, Naru-" She froze. For five whole seconds, it was like her brain had shut down. Then, "Naruto, _what _are you doing?"

One of him turned to answer. "Just sparring." He was quickly poofed for his inattention.

"I can see that, you idiot. I mean the part where you don't have any clothes on!" Indeed, the fifty or so Narutos were dressed in nothing but their boxers, which had ramen bowls on them. And his chakra weights, but those didn't count. One thing that Ino could definitely say for her fellow blonde was that he was in really good shape. She'd known that before, of course, but had never once considered just what it mean about what he looked like under his bulky jacket.

While he wasn't exactly rippling, it was impossible to call him scrawny either. All the muscles were clearly there, easily visible, and really well-toned. Apparently that boast he had made the day they were put into teams was actually true. The girl hadn't known a prepubescent boy could have an eight-pack. As it was, though, he was the best-looking boy in their graduating class. She'd seen Sasuke-kun with his shirt off, and there was no contest. Anyway, back to the present.

"Oh, that," another clone said, "Ya see-" poof "I decided to take a bath in the river-" poof "not too long ago, and was just-" poof "waiting to dry-" poof "off before I put my clothes back on." poof.

She stared. The only liquid on any of hims was sweat. "GO GET DRESSED!"

"Y-Yes Ino!" he all shouted. Then all of him ran for the one set of clothes. After fighting over it for about thirty seconds, the real Naruto remembered he could just dispel the others. Any hopes of having a good day were driven from the Yamanaka's mind by thoughts of her teammate's half-naked body.

After that, the rest of the trip to their destination was pretty uneventful, except for Naruto shouting in joy at his first time in a new country, waking up a nearby previously-sleeping now-angry bull in the process. It ended up as dinner for the remaining nights.

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Finally, team seven arrived at the Dancing Horse Inn. The 'someone' that was waiting for them turned out to be another genin team. After brief introductions on both sides, the Tree team guided the Leaf team to the village.

While traveling, they ended up talking with the other ninjas. Asuma-sensei and the jonin, a dark-haired green-eyed woman they knew only as Kasumi, went and talked about jonin stuff. Kiba got into a discussion with Mieke Toshiro, the only boy on the team, tall and skinny, with black hair and eyes, concerning different types of exploding tags. Ino found herself enjoying her first chance in over a month to talk about girl things with someone besides Sakura-chan (a brown-haired, hazel-eyed, average-looking girl named Tsuchi Yumiko). And Naruto had found himself taken aside by the remaining member of the team almost immediately.

Her name was Fujiwara Hikari. She looked to be a year or two older than team seven and the other two genin of her team and was dressed in an elegant, colorful kimono, unlike the standard ninja wear favored by the other Tree ninja. Her hair was a bright silver color done up in a tight bun. If allowed to hang lose, it would probably go down to her knees. The kunoichi's eyes, though, really caught his interest, as they were a dark shade of orange.

The first thing she said to him was, "You know you're impossible, right?" It was asked in a simple way, like someone who knew a fact and wanted to see if the other person knew it as well.

"Huh?" was all he cold think to answer.

"I have a ...gift, given to me by the Great Tree. When I look at someone, I get a sense of who they are at their very core. I have found that there are exactly forty two different basic groups a person can be placed in. One person can only be part of one group. They can change what group they are a part of by changing themselves, of course, but they can never fit into more than one group at a time. You, though, are part of all forty two." She was speaking with something akin to awe in her voice.

That was really confusing, but Naruto thought about it for a bit. "Wait, so you're saying I'm, like, forty two different people at once or something? And what's the Great Tree?"

Hikari smiled. "The Great Tree, well, you'll find out when we reach the village. But you, I'm not sure I'd put it quite like that. More like you have the potential to be and do literally anything and everything. And just so we're clear, this is you yourself we're talking about, not the monster inside of you."

On hearing that last bit, the demon container didn't even think; he just acted. Spinning around, he grabbed the girl by the shoulders and slammed her up against a nearby tree, holding her there tightly and not noticing the fact that she made no attempt to resist or free herself. Instead, she just looked at him with calm orange eyes, with a bit of pain from the force of his grip.

"How the _hell_ do you know about that?" he growled out threateningly, completely ignorant of how everyone else had suddenly come to a stop at his actions.

The calm stare continued. "I told you, I can see things about people. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Naruto let her go, relaxing on hearing this last part. "Thank you, and I'm sorry. Asuma-sensei tells me I tend to overreact where that's concerned." He saw the two jonins signal the others to ignore the incident and continue on. Regardless, the blonde knew his teammates would question him about it later.

"Apology accepted. It's perfectly understandable, considering how many problems it seems to have caused you," the silver-haired replied.

They went on in silence for a little while until, "So, what's it like, being able to see people like that? Must be pretty neat."

"'Neat.' Hah." Hikari almost looked amused. "To tell the truth, it is oftentimes painful and unsettling. Many people will deny what they are, or lie about it to others. Being around people like that hurts."

Something about the way she said that last bit caught the blonde's attention. "Hurts? I'm guessing you don't mean like 'that hurt my feelings' hurt, right?"

She sighed. "No, I don't. It's an emotional pain, like a part of my heart is slowly tearing away. Sometimes, it is so great that it's actually physical. Then there's the fear, as well. Most of the people who know about my ...gift... fear me. They don't like the thought of what I can see in them."

"_She's just like me,_" the Kyuubi container thought, "_separated from everyone around her by something she had no choice in..._" Though it didn't show on her face or in her speech, he could see the sadness in her eyes. "If you would like, Hikari, I'll be your friend."

Her orange eyes widened in surprise, something that probably didn't happen very often. Then she smiled. "Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you, Naruto."

"You're welcome."

Silence for a while more. The silver-haired girl was the one to break it this time. "You'll be able to see the village in just a moment. Prepare to be amazed."

Amazed was indeed the right word to use. They passed over a small ridge to find that the trees had suddenly stopped. Instead, there was a gently-sloping valley, like a giant shallow bowl of grass cut into the earth. Naruto estimated it to be about thirty miles across, as even his eyes could barely make out the far side. But what drew his attention, as well as the attention of the other Konoha ninjas, was the tree.

Right in the middle of the valley was a single tree, enormous on a scale that made even the Kyuubi look tiny in comparison. He could only just see hundreds of miniscule dots moving about it. People. It was easy to figure out how they'd picked the name Hidden Tree.

"That is the Great Tree," Hikari spoke up from beside him. "It is about three miles wide and over thirty tall. Our entire village, homes, shops, and offices, is carved into its trunk. The area around the base is used as training grounds." Once team seven came back to their senses, the group made its way to the village.

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Ino couldn't help but look on in awe. Now that they were up close, she could really get a feel for the sheer size of the Great Tree. In fact, it was so large that it was impossible to tell from this range that it was even circular.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Yumiko asked. "We owe everything to the Great Tree. It gives us food, water, shelter. Even protects us. That was why we had to come meet you. If any of your team had tried to come here unaccompanied, the Tree would have made sure you never got close."

What was that supposed to mean? Yeah, it was impossibly big, but still. "How? I mean, it's just a tree, right?"

Her guide laughed. "You really think the Great Tree is normal? No. As a matter of fact, it's actually sentient. The village's founders made a deal with the Tree. We care for it and it provides us with all the stuff I mentioned. C'mon, this way. We're supposed to take you to meet the Council." They followed the others, using chakra to walk up the side of the Tree.

As they climbed, the Yamanaka looked around her. There were wooden platforms every so often, with stairs (also made of wood) or ropes and pulleys connecting them. Going straight up like this was clearly just the faster method. The platforms would usually be right in front of a carved-out section of bark, probably a shop or house. Every so often, she would see people going about their daily business like living in a tree wasn't the least bit out of the ordinary. Then again, it probably wasn't for them.

She couldn't help but notice the worry on everyone's face, though. Most tried to hide it, or pretend it wasn't there, but it was easy to see that something big was wrong, and they didn't know what to do. Even their escorts all had that worried expression. The only exception was that Hikari girl who was with Naruto, but she looked as though the end of the world wouldn't ruffle her. That reminded the blonde, she still needed to ask her teammate about what the hell that had been between the two of them back in the forest. Yumiko had explained how the silver-haired girl had a tendency to say things that upset people, but she'd never seen the usually happy, energetic boy react so violently before.

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Kiba looked around, Akamaru sitting on his head, as the group walked down a long hallway carved into the Tree. A long, _torch-lit_, hallway. He turned to Toshiro. "Isn't that kinda, y'know, dangerous?" he asked, gesturing at the burning sticks jutting out of the wooden walls.

"You mean the fire? Not as much as you might think; the Tree is special, doesn't catch fire.." To demonstrate, he took one of the torches and put the flame up against the wall for a few seconds. Just as he had said, it didn't spread, instead just leaving a light scorch mark. "You really think we'd have our village be somewhere that could be destroyed by any simpe katon jutsu?" When he put it that way, it was pretty obvious.

Then he noticed something else weird. A small basin of water sticking out of the wall. Somehow, it was constantly overflowing just slightly, and the water would fall to the floor to be absorbed by the tree. He and Akamaru had been able to smell water the entire time they'd been inside the tree, but this was the first visible sign of the stuff. "Where's that water coming from?"

"Y'know trees need water to live, right? Well, the Great Tree just gives us some of what its roots take in. Whatever we don't end up using just gets soaked right back up." Ah. That made sense.

Hold on. "But if you guys are all using the tree's water, isn't that bad for the tree?"

The black-haired boy grinned. "Haha. The whole village together only uses up the equivalent of a drop in a bucket. The Tree takes care of us, and we take care of the Tree."

"Okay, got it." Silence stretched on between the two boys until Kiba couldn't stand it anymore. "So just what are we doing here anyway? Your village seems to be doing pretty well; I don't see what you need Konoha's help with. Especially such a specific request." He still didn't like this mission for whatever reason. It all looked reasonable enough, but there was just something about the whole thing that didn't sit well with the young Inuzuka.

"It's not my place to tell you. Besides, we're here." Indeed, the hallway/tunnel they'd been walking through suddenly came to an end, opening up into a large circular room that looked like it was probably used for meetings. It was pretty well-lit, considering they were limited to firelight, and he could see about twenty or so people sitting on a long bench that went halfway around the room, several feet in from the wall. Three more doorways led in besides the one they'd used, one to the far right, one to the far left, and one at the back.

"Kasumi," a middle-aged man, seated in the center of the group, demanded once they were standing in the middle of the room, "are these the ones Konoha has sent to aid us?"

The Tree jonin kneeled down. "Yes, Honorable Council Member."

There was a bit of muttering at that.

"...never thought they'd send ones so young..."

"...genin team..."

"...sure they'll be able to handle it..."

The Inuzuka wanted to shout at these idiots for doubting them like that but didn't for two reasons. One was that they were obviously important, and he could get in serious trouble if he were to say the wrong thing. Two was that he knew Naruto would beat him to it.

"Oi! You people were the ones who asked for us! Someone who can do mind jutsus and someone with a lotta chakra! Well, it just so happens that we're the only team in Konoha that fits the bill, so take it or leave it! Hell, we don't even know what it is we're supposed to be doing here yet, but it's obvious something's wrong by the way everyone in the village is acting, something you need us for! So are you jerks just going to sit up there and doubt us all day, or d'you plan on telling us what's goin on?"

Yup. His teammate could do a great job of getting his point across while at the same time insulting whatever idiot he happened to be shouting at and also making sure they had no grounds to get back at him for it.

The Council was clearly stunned, if the complete lack of sound was any indication. Asuma-sensei reprimanded the blonde for shouting at the leaders of an allied village. Not that it would actually stop him from doing it again, if he felt he had to.

Kasumi had stayed on her knees the whole time "Honorable Council, the kunoichi is Yamanaka Ino, heir to the famous clan of mind-walkers. And Asuma-san here has informed me that the boy who just... shouted at all of you... has more chakra than anyone else in the village." Seriously? He'd always known Naruto had a ton of chakra, but the most in the village? How'd that happen?

More mutterings, though this time the Inuzuka couldn't make out anything clearly.

Then, all of a sudden, the silver-haired kunoichi (Hikari he thought her name was) threw herself on her hands and knees. "Please, Honorable Council! I swear to you on my life that the boy, Naruto, has the required amount of chakra! If you truly do care about our home as you say you do, you will accept their help!"

An old woman rose to her feet an glared at the prostrate girl. "Who do you think you are, to doubt us like that? And you say you swear on your life? You know what the life of a Tree-cursed one like you is worth? Nothing!"

The next thing Kiba knew, Naruto was halfway to the speaker, struggling to free himself from Asuma-sensei's tight grasp and radiating so much chakra he could see it coming off the blonde in small wisps of blue energy. At the same time, half the Council members had jumped to their feet and started shouting.

Then the middle-aged man rose to his feet. "ORDER!" An enormous ...presence... filled the room in an instant, forcing everyone, even the speaker, to their knees. It was like the air had become heavy and started to crush them. But there was no chakra.

After a moment, when the force started to let up, the dog boy realized that it must have been the Tree.

"Council member Hisoka!" He was facing the old woman, a stern expression on his features. "For violating Law 135, your expulsion from this Council is now put to a vote!"

One by one, the Council members, excluding Hisoka herself, announced their decisions. None of them spent any time considering beforehand. Kiba noticed that, for the most part, the older members voted to keep her, while the younger wanted her gone. The final result was fourteen to six for expelling her.

"Very well. Former Council member Hisoka, you must now leave the room," announced the same man.

As she walked out, the Inuzuka saw her give a furious glare to the orange-eyed girl, who had since returned to her feet.

"Now, does anyone else object to Hikari's words?" the man asked. Silence. "Very well. Then we are all agreed that the Konoha ninja can be trusted to accomplish the task at hand?" Nods. "Good. Konoha ninja, the reason we sent the aid request is because the Great Tree is dying, and we need your help to save it."

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comments: (please note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

I wanted to do something new and unique, and I came up with (read: stole from the countless fantasy stories it's used in) the idea of a village built into a giant tree. Since this is the Naruto world, I felt free to defy the laws of physics and facts about the Earth's atmosphere, allowing me to make the giant tree into an impossibly huge tree.

That led to the Tree village mission. Of course, I couldn't have things go smoothly, so I threw in Hikari and everything surrounding her.

The required "girl sees shirtless Naruto" scene was also placed in this chapter.


	8. time goes on

**chapter 8**

**time goes on**

Silence from the Konoha ninjas followed that announcement. For his part, Naruto just couldn't understand how something so big and complex and full of life as the Great Tree could possibly be dying. He could halfway feel a massive energy of some kind flowing through the wood all around him, and the idea of it ceasing to exist seemed as impossible as the Sun going out. His teammates and sensei were clearly thinking along the same lines, going by their faces. And if it really was dying, what the hell were they supposed to do about it?

But apparently the head council guy wasn't done yet. "I can understand your skepticism." He'd need to remember to look that word up later. "We didn't want to believe it at first, either. After all, there's nothing wrong with it that can be seen through simple observation. But a couple weeks ago, many people started noticing that the Tree seemed... tired, as though it was using its energy elsewhere. We sent our only mind-walker to talk to the Tree directly.

"She died, but not before letting us know what was wrong. The Tree has been infected by a disease. A virus. Right now, nearly all its energy is being put into keeping the virus taxing over completely. Kanna, the mind-walker, was infected when she went to speak with the Tree. She died in under an hour. The Tree will probably only last another month, maybe a bit more, and signs of the disease should start showing up soon.

"At first, we panicked. For the better part of a day, the whole village was in chaos, but then we remembered the pact our ancestors made. The Tree takes care of us, and _we take care of the Tree_. So we all worked together, studying the virus in order to find a way of stopping it. We learned that it multiplies impossibly fast; it likely managed to spread throughout the entire Tree in a matter of minutes. But once it has spread, it does not kill the host instantly. No, first it sucks out every bit of life the host has. Life, not chakra. It turns out that, while deeply connected, they are quite different. Chakra is, in fact, the key to killing the virus.

"We discovered that completely smothering the virus in chakra is enough to kill it. But if even the tiniest bit is missed, it will immediately spread again, making the effort worthless."

When he paused here, Asuma-sensei spoke up. "So that's what you need Naruto for. While everyone in the village working together would doubtless have more than enough chakra to flood the entire Tree, there would still be all the places where the different chakras clashed. Tiny little gaps that normally wouldn't matter, but where the virus could survive. But what about Ino? You said the last mind-walker who talked to the Tree, Kanna, died. What do you need her for?" He was giving the man a hard glare, wanting to know just what needed his student to put herself in such danger.

The man just took the bearded jonin's words in stride. "Kanna died because we had no knowledge of the virus at the time, or how to fight it. Simply flaring one's chakra for several seconds is enough to kill the virus in them. As far as why we need her, the Tree will not accept the chakra of anyone who is not of this village. She will need to speak to the Tree and explain the situation, as we no longer have anyone who can."

Hearing all of this, Naruto found himself worried. Yeah, he had a lot of chakra, but that tree was huge! Did they really think he had enough to fill the entire tree, like the man said was needed? And more than that, there was no way he had the control to pull it off. Yes, he'd been improving in that area ever since joining team seven, but the blonde could still barely pull off a simple henge without using almost twice the needed chakra. Something of his doubts must have shown on his face, though, because Asuma-sensei turned and spoke directly to him.

"Naruto, Hokage-sama has enough chakra that, released in a single burst, it would cover all of Konoha. You have more than twice the reserves he does. And if you're worried about not having enough chakra control, remember that there's still a month left to work on it."

He had been so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't notice Ino had come up behind them until he heard her voice. "I'm sorry to say this, but there might be a problem. I only began learning my clan jutsus fairly recently and have not yet started on any of the ones that allow for what you are asking."

The man seemed to consider this for a moment, before reaching a decision. "You needn't worry, Yamanaka-san. While we no longer have anyone who can perform the Omoi Shinnryuu no Jutsu (mind entry jutsu), the scroll teaching it is perfectly accessible, and as your sensei pointed out, you have a month at your disposal." There was some muttering at this. Apparently, they hadn't planned on giving out jutsu. "And as for you, spirited young Naruto, there is a chakra exercise you will find very useful in preparing for your role." The muttering increased. Then one of the Council members, another older one, male this time, had decided it was enough.

"Head Council member Tanaka. While we of the Council had all previously voted to ask Konoha for aid, the decision to give our jutsu and training methods to Konoha ninja has _not_ been agreed upon at this time. I, for one, do not trust these outsiders and, while willing to tolerate their presence as necessary for saving the Tree, cannot go along with your abrupt statement that you plan on revealing to them village secrets." By the looks on the other Council members, some shared the speaker's point of view, while most still seemed in support of Tanaka.

"Thank you for your words, Council member Mofune. However, I had not realized it was a matter that required voting on. Is it not common sense to do everything within our power to help those who have come to save our home? Very well, we shall vote."

Again, each person on the Council took turns saying wether they were insupport of the choice or against it. Naruto realized that he was having his first taste of politics and immediately decided he hated it. When he became Hokage, all those fake smiles and fake words would have to go. He looked over at Hikari, to see how she was doing amidst this room full of people pretending to be things they weren't and found her standing with eyes closed. Of course; her ability didn't do anything unless she saw someone.

"Voting finished," Tanaka announced. "By a vote of twelve to eight, we have decided to give any aid within our capabilities to the team from Konoha. If that is all, this meeting of the Council will now be concluded. Elections to replace former Council member Hisoka will take place in three days' time. Kasumi, you and your team are to lead Yamanaka-san to the jutsu vaults to get the scroll on the Omoi Shinnryuu no Jutsu and instruct Naruto-san in the chakra flow exercise."

"Understood, Tanaka-sama." And she led them back out the same way they had come in.

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"No, No! Don't _push_ the chakra into the wood, let it _flow_, just like the name of the exercise suggests." Kasumi... sensei? was reprimanding Naruto, after the boy had just overloaded his fifth cube of wood with chakra, turning it into sawdust and splinters in his hands. Several yards away, Ino was seated on the grass, reading through the scroll for the jutsu she would have to learn. No doubt Kiba would be her test subject for figuring out the jutsu, but that wouldn't come until later. Right now, the only genin of team seven to not have blonde hair and blue eyes was feeling pretty damn useless.

"What's the matter, Kiba?"

He turned to face the speaker. "Hey, Asuma-sensei. I'm just feeling kinda bored right now. Nothing to do, y'know?"

The man gave him one of those 'you're not fooling me' looks. "So, in other words, your teammates are training to try and save a village, while you're wishing you could do more to help them and at the same time feeling jealous that they both have something special that makes them useful here and you don't. Am I close?"

The dog-boy felt his jaw drop. "I think you just hit the nail on the head, Sensei."

"Haha," the bearded jonin laughed. "See? I'm not completely worthless." Then he turned serious. "And neither are you. Just because it looks like there's nothing for you to do doesn't mean there's nothing you _can _do. Remember, you're still the best tracker on the team, and you've got Akamaru as well."

The man's voice dropped in volume to the point where the Inuzuka could barely hear it. "Also, don't tell the others this, because I don't want to distract them, but I talked to Kasumi-san a bit about that old woman, Hisoka. I have a feeling she might cause trouble." He'd never seen Sensei act quite this serious before.

"Huh? But we're trying to save the village here. Wouldn't she want that as much as anyone?" Kiba answered at the same volume.

"I'd think so too, normally. But apparently she's a powerful member of a very conservative group that wants nothing to do with anyone outside the village and refuses to believe the Tree could ever need help. I'm assuming you got her scent earlier?"

"Course. Me and Akamaru got the scents of everyone in that room, but are you really asking me to spy on her?"

"I'm not asking, I'm ordering. But Akamaru would probably be a better choice for spying than you. Smaller, less noticeable, plus if she has someone watching us less conspicuous if he's missing. No time to do anything now, though. We'll be eating soon."

He returned his voice to a normal speaking volume. "But if you really are bored, there's lots of things you can do. Explore, ask some of the other genin if they want to spar, or even just train." And he walked away, leaving the young Inuzuka with a lot on his mind.

Asuma-sensei had been right when he said they would be eating soon though. Less than a half hour later, Kiba found himself (along with everyone else) sitting in a small cafe carved into the lower part of the Tree. It was actually a pretty structured place, as far as locations went. Shops, businesses, and the like were found near the bottom, homes were above them, and everything related to the running of the village was above those.

They were all eating the same thing; some kind of soup filled with green stuff and an unrecognizable meat. Apparently, it was a fairly standard food in the Tree village.

Ino summed up the thoughts of the five from Konoha quite nicely. "This stuff is pretty good. What is it?"

Toshiro was the one to answer. "Oh, just bits of a leaf from the Tree, a species of giant bug only found here, both put in a bowl of hot water."

She gagged.

Kiba and Akamaru froze.

Asuma-sensei pretended he hadn't heard.

Naruto asked for thirds.

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"All right," Kasumi-sansei said, obviously getting annoyed by how long this was taking, "again." The blue-eyed boy did as she had taught him, imagining the block of wood as a part of his body and simply letting the chakra flow into it. Then, when it was near-full, he lost his focus for an instant and the chakra dispersed.

"Better. At least you've stopped destroying them." Yeah, that was an improvement. Having the blocks of wood explode in his hands over and over again hurt. A lot. Most people's hands would have been nothing more than useless bloody lumps of flesh by the he figured out the difference between pushing his chakra and letting it flow.

It had been four days since they had arrived at the Great Tree, and Naruto was starting to get frustrated with his painfully slow progress. Of course, it wasn't helping that every day, that immense power he could half-feel from the Tree all the time was ever so slightly less immense. It was a constant reminder that he only had so much time.

Ino, too, had been working hard the past few days. Mostly, she was still trying to figure out how to work the jutsu. Mind stuff was really complicated, he'd learned one night after asking the other blonde how her side of things was going, only to be treated to an hour-long rant he understood less than a quarter of. At the same time, though, they'd found out that the kunoichi didn't quite have enough chakra yet to flare it throughout her whole body for the seven seconds needed to kill the virus, so Asuma-sensei had been working with her to increase her reserves.

At Kasumi-sensei's command, he attempted the exercise again, with the same results.

As for Kiba, something was clearly worrying him, but whenever the orange-clad boy would ask, he'd just tell him to focus on his training. Weird. And Akamaru was missing a lot. Something was definitely up, and he'd even tried talking to Asuma-sensei about it, but the man had just sighed and, just like Kiba, told him to focus on learning the exercise.

Since the rest of his team was busy with their own stuff, most of his support had come from te Tree genin, specifically Hikari. The silver-haired girl's calm confidence in him, and the way she insisted that he would be able to save the Tree, like it was fact more than just simple belief, was really nice at times. He'd also asked her more about herself and what the hell that old bitch had been going on about.

So she explained how she hadn't always been the only one with those special orange eyes. And how, seven or eight years ago, there had been enough of them that the constant fear the rest of the village held of them had grown, and in some it had even turned to hate. Then, one night, that hate had boiled over, and a group of forty ninja had gone to the section reserved for the 'Tree-cursed' as they were called then and started a slaughter. The Tree had protected her, but all the others died. When the rest of the village had arrived to find a single sobbing little girl amidst all the blood and bodies, they'd been horrified at what had happened. Law 135 had been made then, leading to the present.

The brown-haired Tree jonin had him go through the exercise again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Hokage's son was sitting outside in the cool night air with his only non-blue-eyed genin and the boy's dog. "Well?"

"Akamaru finally managed to find the old bat's home today. The Tree absorbs scents, making it a lot harder to follow a trail; that's why it took so long." He stopped.

"And?"

"She's been coming and going a lot, and there've been five-"

"Rff."

"_Four_ repeat visitors over the past few days, two of them on the Council. That Mofune guy and the younger lady who was wearing the red dress. Hisoka herself was out most of the day, but Akamaru was too late to see her leave, and she went through some crowded places where he lost her scent trail. She came home late and went straight to bed, and that was it."

Asuma considered all this for a moment. "Hmm, looks like I might have been right, then. For someone who was just suddenly kicked out of a high political position, she's being far too active. Keep on her, and Kiba, I want you going around too. Stay away from her house, though. Just wander around the village and keep on the lookout for anywhere she might've been. Chances are you'll get lucky eventually. Now get back to bed; I'm going to have a smoke."

Once the boy and his dog went inside, he did indeed take out a cigarette. He also turned to the other chakra signature nearby. "You live here and know the people involved. What's your opinion on all this?"

Kasumi moved to stand next to him. "My opinion is that you need to teach your student how to give a report."

"Eh, he's young, and it's his first time doing anything like this for real. Give him time. Now about Hisoka?"

The woman became serious. "She's definitely up to something. That woman almost never goes out around the village, especially in crowded areas. Hates crowds, as a matter of fact. The other two, Mofune and Yumi, are pretty much her underlings. Not too surprising they'd be visiting. I just wish we knew more."

"And how's Naruto coming along?" he asked, having not had time to spend with the blonde today.

The green-eyed jonin sighed. "Very slowly, and I can tell it's frustrating him. He's a really interesting kid, you know."

Asuma decided to cut her off before she could ask. "No, I'm not going to tell you anything I haven't already. That boy has enough people nosing around his life as it is. You're certainly right about him being interesting, though. Goodnight, Kasumi-san"

"Goodnight, Asuma-san."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had been two weeks, Naruto mused, as he sat on the edge of the platform in front of team seven's living quarters, dangling his legs out over the ten mile drop. Two weeks since they'd arrived in the Hidden Tree village and learned they were there to save it. He'd managed to successfully pull off the chakra flow exercise on the small wooden cube three days ago and had moved on to the next level. Trying to do the same thing with a cube that was seven feet across.

It wasn't a problem of the amount of chakra needed, not at all. The problem was getting the chakra to do what he wanted it to. Every single time, when it got to a certain size, he just wouldn't be able to keep it flowing properly and it would just fall apart.

And time was starting to run out. The village had been put on water rations, wasn't able to give them quite so much anymore. The water basins that had been constantly overflowing when they had first gotten here now took hours to fill up. The worry on everyone's faces had intensified a lot.

"Hey."

He turned to the sound of the voice. "Hey, Ino. How's it going?"

The other blonde sat down next to him with a sigh. "I still can't quite get it to work right. I've been testing it on Asuma-sensei, Yumiko-san, and Toshiro-san, but it just never quite happens like it's supposed to." She had realized after the first time that he didn't want a detailed description of the inner workings of the jutsu and exactly what she was having trouble with and so had toned down her explanations a great deal. "They're all depending on us, you know?"

"Yeah. Who would've thought our first real mission would be to save a village?" he asked while adding to himself "_at least this time, I won't be hated for doing it._"

"I know what you mean," Ino answered. "I just hope we can do it..."

"Of course we can," he assured her. "Cause we have to."

Then the boy had an idea. An awesome, crazy idea that the girl next to him would probably bash his head in for, but whatever. "I'm gonna go train."

Unfortunately, the kunoichi noticed his smirk. "Naruto, what are you planning?" she demanded.

He tried to act innocent. "Nothing, Ino. I'm just gonna go train some more."

She glared at him.

Seeing this wasn't going to work, he skipped to option three: do the, awesome, crazy thing right away. He hopped over the edge of the platform.

This was amazing! Like the whole world had gone away, and it was just him, and the wind hurdling past. The sensation of free-fall, just being completely weightless was... Words couldn't describe it. He twisted in midair, now going face-down, his arms tucked at his sides. Naruto felt himself speed up even more.

He lost track of just how long he spent like that, falling into nothing, the wind whipping past. It was definitely over a minute. Then the ground started to close in. Turning right-side-up once more, he put his fingers into the seal for kage bunshin. When the clone appeared right below him, he leapt off its shoulders, slowing his own descent while speeding up the replica's. Not enough, though. He did it again, as the memories of an impact with the ground so hard it completely shattered his legs came to him from the now-deceased clone. Good thing he could ignore physical pain so well. One more time he repeated the process before landing in a crouch on the grass. A couple feet behind him, the first clone had actually driven two sandal-shaped holes in the earth, each one almost a foot deep.

"That was fun!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"_That idiot!_" Ino thought as she ran down the Tree as fast as she could, "_If he's not dead, I'm gonna _kill _him when I get down there!_"

She made it to ground level five minutes later (not out of breath as she would have been just two months ago from a run like that) only to find that her insane fellow blonde had somehow landed completely without injury and had already started working on his chakra flow exercise.

"What the HELL were you thinking?" she screamed at him.

As she could have predicted, the short boy gave a sheepish little grin as his right hand went up to scratch at the back of his neck. "Hehe, sorry, Ino. I didn't mean to scare you."

Sometimes she just couldn't believe the things he did. "Didn't want to scare me? Naruto, you just threw yourself down a ten mile drop! How did you think I would react?"

His blue eyes turned sincere. "I really am sorry. I just wanted to get down here and train as fast as possible, and I guess I just didn't really think about it." Then, in an instant, he changed to happy. "Besides, it was really fun! You should try it someday after you learn a jutsu that lets you land safely!"

So that was it. He'd used kage bunshin.

Not quite sure how to respond, she just watched as he tried, and failed, to fill the giant block of wood with chakra again. The Yamanaka decided to say the first thing that popped into her mind. "I bet Sasuke-kun wouldn't have any problem doing that." Probably not the best thing she could have come up with, going by her teammate's sudden mood shift from 'determined' to 'quiet angry.' In the scale of Naruto's moods, quiet angry was a good bit beyond loud angry, but not quite furious. It still wasn't fun.

"Yeah, well the bastard isn't here. And even if he was, he wouldn't have anywhere near enough chakra for what I'm gonna need to do. Besides, I bet even your precious _Sasuke-kun_ would have some trouble with this."

At any other time, she would've just bopped him over the head for insulting Sasuke-kun like that, but that would have just made things worse. "Why do you and Kiba always talk about Sasuke-kun like that?"

He stopped his repeated attempts at the exercise to turn his full attention to her. "Because he's a bastard. If you ever took the time to pay attention to how he acts, instead of just what his name is and how everyone treats him, you'd see it."

He stopped, obviously waiting for her to respond. Some part of Ino noticed that this was a bit like the verbal spars they'd often get into, just several hundred times more serious. "What do you mean how he acts? Sasuke-kun is sweet and kind1"

Naruto laughed. He just burst out into laughter for nearly ten seconds straight. And not the humorous laughter she might hear from him after Kiba told a funny joke, nor the happy laughter like when they had passed Asuma-sensei's test. This was a sort of disbelieving laugh, and she didn't like it. "Sweet and kind? Sweet and kind? Ino, when was the last time you saw him say something sweet or kind? Or even just nice? Hell, I dobut he's even so much as smiled once in the last five years!"

"No! That's not true! Sasuke-kun-"

"Think about it, Ino! Just think back and give me one single example!"

She thought. And she thought some more.

"Okay, but just because he doesn't smile doesn't mean he's mean!"

He sighed. "Just tell me this. Why do you like Sasuke, anyway?"

Oh, that was an easy one. "Well, he's popular, and strong, and cool, and confident, and... umm... nice?"

Naruto's retort was just as fast. "Asuma-sensei is popular, strong, cool, confident, nice, and supportive. You don't like him, do you? Give me a real reason, Ino. A real substantial reason why you like Uchiha Sasuke, and I promise I'll never say anything bad about him in front of you again."

Some part of her must have realized he was right, because she was suddenly incredibly angry. So she said something to the other blonde that she had sworn to herself she would never say. "And what about Sakura? Why are you always fawning after her? One good reason."

She immediately regretted it. "Well, she's pretty, and smart, and..." Because Ino had long since figured out why he crushed on the pink-haired girl the way he did. It was the same reason he pulled pranks, and loved orange, and was loud, and acted like an idiot. Sakura would always respond to his attempts to ask her on dates. Violently of course, but she responded and gave him the attention he had so desperately craved. Now, though, he had positive attention from his teammates and Asuma-sensei and no longer felt the need to chase after Sakura. He just hadn't realized that yet.

She watched as his face fell. " I... don't know. Why did I spend so much time on her?"

The part of the Yamanaka's mind versed in psychology realized that worrying about the possibility of long-held beliefs being false wouldn't do either of them any good, especially when a village was depending on them for its survival. So she did something about it.

"Hey, let's say we both promise to forget this for now, and next time we meet up with Sakura and Sasuke, we both take a good look at them and decide then, okay?"

Naruto considered this for a moment before smiling. "Yeah, that sounds good. Right now, we've got a village to save!" and he returned to his training with newfound energy.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Akamaru had followed the old lady like he was supposed to. He was hidden in a hole in the wall near the floor in the corner of the room. None of the humans would see him unless they looked right in the hole. Humans couldn't smell very well, so they wouldn't find him that way, either. And he was staying silent, so they wouldn't hear him.

There were a lot of humans in the room. They were all looking at the old lady. The old lady started to speak. He had trouble understanding human sometimes. Brother Kiba wanted him to listen, though, so he did. The old lady talked about how the Tree was dying. She said it was because of the girl with the orange eyes. That didn't make sense, but the people listened. Then she talked about brother Kiba and his packmates. She said that their being here was making things worse. She said about how they were 'breaking ancient customs.' That didn't make sense either, but again the people listened.

Then she asked the people for help. They agreed. She told them to go on like normal. She said she would tell them when she needed them. After that, she stopped speaking. The people started to leave. It was a long time later when the room was empty. Akamaru left the hole in the wall. He followed the old lady's scent. She had gone to her home and went to sleep. He went to find brother Kiba and tell him about what the old lady had said.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto could be found beating up a training post one night after yet another long day of training. Right now, he was taking a short break (at Asuma-sensei's suggestion) to let off some of his frustration on the circular piece of wood, instead of the square piece of wood that was causing his problem. It wasn't like he wasn't getting better at the exercise; he was, just far too slowly. He knew it, and so did everyone else. He was trying his hardest, but his hardest just didn't seem to be enough.

The Tree was dying. It had been over three weeks now, and even a blind idiot would be able to tell. The wood felt drier, rougher, water was limited to a couple sips per day, and that massive ever-present energy was now small enough he could actually measure it and feel it decreasing. When he concentrated, that is. Most of the time, he could hardly feel it at all. And it was all his fault. Ino had gotten the Mind Entry Jutsu down earlier that week, leaving everything resting on him.

For the past couple days, the blonde had ignored sleep and replaced meals with snacks in the training grounds. His teammates had tried to force him to get some sleep, but he didn't have time. He'd made a dozen kage bunshins to restrain them and kept right on going. Even Hikari's calm, quiet belief wasn't helping anymore. At one point, he'd had what he had at first thought of as a great idea: use kage bunshins to help him. But even he couldn't make enough of the things to even come close to covering the entire Tree, and he'd need all his chakra to fill it anyway.

The problem was that he just couldn't concentrate hard enough to keep such large amounts of chakra flowing the right way. Concentration... He remembered once, back at the Academy, when Iruka-sensei had kept him, Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru behind after class for a special lecture on concentration. The scarred chunin had thrown a leaf onto each of their foreheads and told them to concentrate only on the leaf. He probably would've told them more, too, but Naruto had just blown the man (and the leaf) off and run out the window, followed by his classmates.

"DAMN IT!" he screamed, driving his fist into the wood as hard as he could, using all his pent-up anger and disappointment in himself to power the blow. There was a distinctive splintering sound as his knuckles drove into the training post, tearing a two inch deep hole. Then a sharp pain the next instant as a piece of wood, too big to qualify as a splinter, drove its way deep into the soft flesh between the knuckles. That sharp, piercing pain made him stop and think.

Pain! That was it! Struck by his sudden flash of brilliance, he ran straight over to the Block, as he'd come to call it, only just remembering to take out the piece of wood embedded in his hand. When he got there, he took out a kunai from his pack and carved the Konoha symbol into both palms, deeply enough that he couldn't just ignore it. Then he placed his hands on the wood.

Using the pain as a focal point, he imagined the Block as an extension of himself and let chakra flow through him and into it. Had he not been giving his full concentration to what he was doing, he would have marveled at how very easy it was. With something real to center himself around, the chakra didn't fall apart, even when he spread it throughout the entire three hundred forty three cubic feet of wood and held it there for over a minute.

"Yes!" He ran off to find Asuma-sensei, or Ino, or Kiba, or Akamaru, or Hikari, or Kasumi-sensei, or Toshiro, or Yumiko, or anyone really. The suddenly joyous blonde wanted to share the good news with the entire world!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

I packed a lot of stuff into this chapter. First, the scene from the end of chapter seven finishes up, finally explaining the details of the mission. After that, Kiba is naturally feeling left out, so Asuma gives him something important to do. Then a little bit of comedy. followed by Naruto having trouble, and a bit of Tree village politics and history.

The scene(s) between Naruto and Ino a bit over halfway through the chapter were ones I greatly enjoyed writing. The argument between them about Sasuke and Sakura is something that has been building for several chapters now, and I really just like their interaction here in general.

After that, the brief scene from Akamaru's point of view is there both to show how he thinks a bit differently from humans, and to develop the things happening behind the scenes in the village. We conclude with the first obvious evidence that Naruto isn't mentally sound, something I've been inting at all along.


	9. the healing

**chapter 9**

**the healing**

Team seven was once more standing in the Council room along with Kasumi-san and her genin team. This time, though, the village's governing body was not present, as there wasn't truly any need for them right now. They were here because it led to the place where Ino and Naruto would be going to heal the Tree.

A day and a half ago, the blue-eyed Uzumaki had woken them all up in the middle of the night to show them his newly-discovered method of concentrating. Asuma had immediately made a mental note to have the boy's mental health evaluated immediately on returning to Konoha; thinking that cutting into one's own palm so casually was a good idea did not seem to him like a sane thought.

Sane or not, it had obviously worked. The green-eyed Tree jonin had spent most of the day testing him, making sure (to the best of her ability) he would be able to perform the exercise on the large scale that would soon be required of him. During that time, the Hokage's son had been talking with Kiba and learned about Hisoka's late-night speech. That had been extremely troubling.

In the evening, they had all gone to meet with the Council and tell them the good news. Tanaka-sama and the others had decided, after a bit of debate, that the healing would take place at noon the next day. That way, the two blonde genin would be fully-recovered from the previous day's activities. Although Asuma did notice that the most vocal opponents of not going ahead with it right away had been the old man Mofune and the younger Yumi, the two Kasumi-san had identified as working for Hisoka.

Immediately after the meeting concluded, he had Kiba send Akamaru to watch the old woman. Sure enough, the white dog came back less than two hours later with a report on what must have been a very stirring speech about keeping scum and outsiders away from their home. The end result was that thirty one genin and chunin would be trying to kill them all to prevent Ino and Naruto from saving their village. Amazing how simple words could make people throw away common sense like that.

Later that night, Asuma had talked to the other jonin about the situation, and the two had spent the better part of an hour choosing a course of action. They couldn't have her arrested, as the only evidence came from Akamaru through Kiba. Informing the Council would alert the old woman, so that was out too. And delaying the healing any longer than absolutely necessary was out of the question – the Tree would likely not last another twenty four hours, judging by the way the wood was now starting to age.

That left only one option. Fortunately, there was only one way to get to the room where the blue-eyed ninjas would be. The hallways were too narrow for serious fighting, which put the Council room as the main battle site. The two jonins would take the brunt of the attack, leaving Kiba and Kasumi's students to guard the passage and make sure that anyone who slipped past the older nins would not make it to Ino and Naruto. They had taken the four genin aside in the morning to tell them the plan and that they should come prepared for combat.

Kasumi-san decided that they'd been standing around too long. "You two, it's straight down that hallway at the back. You'll know when you're in the right spot. The whole village is wishing for your success, so good luck."

The Sandaime's son knew he couldn't just leave it at that. "Naruto, Ino, whatever happens, just keep focused on your tasks. We believe in you."

Two pairs of sharp blue eyes immediately picked up on the oddity. Damn it, he hadn't wanted them worrying.

"What d'you mean, 'whatever happens,' Asuma-sensei?" the male demanded.

"You're keeping something from us, aren't you?" the female accused.

So he briefly explained the situation to the only two who hadn't already known it. "And before either of you say you want to stay and fight, remember that you'll need all your energy for saving the Tree. Now get going." Knowing that this was a serious situation, the genin of team seven all removed their chakra weights, giving the metal bands to their sensei for safekeeping. Then both blondes dashed down the tunnel after giving quick goodbyes of their own.

It was less than a minute later that the Konoha jonin picked up the approaching chakra signatures from all three of the other entrances. "Get ready," he ordered.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As she ran down the hallway, making sure to keep a reasonable pace so as not to tire herself out, Ino turned to her teammate. "You ready for this?"

He answered with a confident grin. "Ready as I'll ever be. How about you?"

"Yeah," she answered. "I hope Kiba and the others will be okay, though," the kunoichi added as a brief flash of concern crossed her face.

Naruto picked up on it right away. "Don't worry. They can all take care of themselves, and Asuma-sensei and Kasumi-sensei are jonin." Her fellow blonde paused briefly. "I think we're almost there. The light up ahead looks a bit different."

In their time together on team seven, Ino had learned to trust the boy's instincts and senses, even when her own didn't support them. And sure enough, less than fifteen seconds later, the passage opened up into a small cylindrical room. At the very center was a pole off wood, about as thick around as an average tree, going straight from floor to ceiling. This, the mind-walker realized, must be the very center of the Great Tree.

She turned to Naruto. "Okay, let's do this."

He nodded, and the two genin each went to opposite sides of the core. Both of them would require direct physical contact for what they needed to do. As she went through the handseals for her jutsu, she could hear the sound of him carving into his palms; Ino didn't let it distract her, despite the fact that it was completely sickening. Finishing her seals, she placed her hands on the wood.

"**Omoi Shinnryuu no Jutsu"** (mind entry jutsu)

Suddenly the Yamanaka found herself inside the Tree's mind. It was a surreal experience, as unlike the human minds she had practiced the jutsu on, the mind of a plant was not rooted in the physical. It was more a combination of thoughts and sensations, made up of all different kinds of energy flowing all around. She herself was little more than a mass of chakra and thoughts, floating in this place.

And she could feel the virus as well, everywhere, slowly sucking everything up like a black hole, until there would be nothing left.

**/**_**You are not one I know. Why are you here, human?**_**/**

It wasn't truly words, as words didn't exist in a non-physical place like this. More like a feeling, mixed with thoughts. She answered in the same manner.

/_I have come to help save you. My friend can rid you of the virus that is killing you, but for him to do so, you will have to accept his chakra into yourself._/

**/**_**I understand. I will need to communicate with this friend of yours.**_**/**

Ino panicked. She didn't have any way of bringing someone here with her, the jutsu was only meant for one. So all of this would be for nothing, and the Tree would die. And al because she-

Then Naruto was there, just like that, and the girl found herself shocked still for a moment. In this state, the boy's presence was _extraordinary_, making her feel insignificant by comparison. And it gave her definite proof of her belief that her friend was completely contradictory within himself, as, at the same time that she could feel him, everything she had come to know him to be and more, she could feel something else as well. Something entirely different locked away deep inside of him. Something destructive, and evil, and powerful.

He was clearly confused. /_What the hell? Ino?_/

/_Hi. The Tree, um, wanted to communicate with you._/ As much as her brain would have normally made her use the word 'talk,' it just didn't seem right in this instance, as no words were being used.

**/**_**You can cure me of this virus, child?**_**/ **The Yamanaka could pick up the echo of what the Tree asked him.

He took a moment before answering, seeming even more confident than normal thanks to his sheer presence here. /_Yes. Yes, I can_/

The Tree seemed to consider for a moment before responding.** /**_**Very well. I will allow your chakra into myself, but you must keep that which is inside you safely locked away.**_**/**

A complete seriousness, deeper than any she had ever felt before, radiated through the boy's being at this. /_I have been doing so since the night of my birth. I will not fail now._/

Ino couldn't help it. She was curious. /_Naruto? What're you referring to?_/

His reaction was extremely unsettling. A powerful burst of pure unadulterated terror came from him, so strong that she was frozen momentarily. Naruto, the boy who had always seemed born without fear, was terrified to an extreme she hadn't believed humans to be capable of. Just as fast as it came,though, it vanished, as if it had never been.

/_I'll explain it some other time._/

**/**_**Child, return to your body and do what you will. You, human, shall remain here to assist the child in what ways you can.**_**/**

Then Naruto vanished, leaving the girl temporarily disoriented and very confused.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

For Kiba, it was his first time in a serious battle, with enemies trying to kill him instead of opponents trying to beat him. For the most part, it wasn't too different. When he found himself fighting someone, instincts from training and sparring guided his actions more than his thoughts. Alongside the Inuzuka, Akamaru was already in juujin bunshin form, helping him to fight off foes.

He wasn't having to do all that much, though. Asuma-sensei and the brown-haired Tree jonin were taking care of the majority of the attackers, and Toshiro, Hikari, and Yumiko were working together to get most of the ones that slipped by.

Of course, that didn't mean the dog-boy could just relax. He let himself fall onto all fours to dodge several shuriken aimed at his upper body, then used his new position along with a burst of chakra to propel himself at the kunoichi who had thrown them, reaching her before she could try anything else.

She was too slow to react in time to his enhanced speed, and Kiba slashed out with his left hand, claws cutting deeply into her stomach. His continued momentum made him crash into her, and fortunately she was in enough pain that she didn't take the chance to stab him with a kunai. Seeing that the wound was deep enough to keep her out of the fight for the most part, he pushed off the stunned girl, leaping back to the tunnel that was the only path to his teammates.

Off to his left, he could see Yumiko holding off a boy a few years her elder, until Toshiro slipped in from behind and stabbed a kunai into the nin's back. Next to him on his right, Akamaru had bitten deep into the back of a boy's leg, sharp teeth cutting through a tendon, making the limb useless. Further in that direction, Hikari was up against what looked to be a chunin, gracefully dodging out of the way of everything the woman tried before placing her own kunai firmly in her opponent's chest. And in the middle of the room were the two jonin, both moving so fast they were little more than blurs, eliminating anyone nearby in seconds each.

Because of the crowded space, not many jutsu were being used. It was mostly kunai and shuriken, with bits of straight-up taijutsu thrown in. All those blades meant that there was a lot of blood spilling out onto the wooden floor, so much that it was interfering with Kiba's sense of smell. He was just barely able to pick up on the unfamiliar scent leading down the tunnel behind him. _Shit!_

Not having enough time to even shout out, he shot off down the passageway, hands and feet pounding against the wood, and chakra-enhanced muscles combined with adrenaline making the young Inuzuka run faster than he ever had before.

The scent was getting stronger as he went, meaning he was gaining on whoever it was. He just wasn't sure it would be fast enough. Trying not to think of his friends and teammates lying somewhere with their throats slit, he increased the amount of chakra flowing to his muscles, gritting his teeth against the pain they gave off in protest. The dog-boy knew he was pushing himself too far, but he didn't care. At the moment, he didn't care about anything except keeping Naruto and Ino safe.

He could see the other nin now and would be on him in under thirty seconds. That time was then cut drastically when the ninja stopped and turned to face him. Now it would be less than two seconds. Pushing off powerfully with his legs, The Inuzuka channeled his chakra the way his mom had taught him and, clawed hands out in front, started to spin at an extremely rapid rate as he sailed through the air.

"**Tsuga"**

He hit his enemy right in the chest. Feeling the chakra his foe was using to harden their body, the Inuzuka increased how much he was putting into the jutsu.

There was a strange wetness all over him as the world turned red and his nose was completely overpowered by the smell of blood. The next thing Kiba knew he was laying on his back on the wood floor his whole body screaming in pain. Back down the tunnel a few feet was the top part of the boy he had just killed. A line of shattered bones parts of organs and blood connected it to the bottom part. The arms were in there somewhere too.

He threw up his body protesting the action so that most of the vomit never made it out of his mouth and what did mostly spilled out onto his face and chest. The smell was terrible. He'd just killed a boy. The same age as himself from the face contorted in pain and what was left of the body. He cried.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As blood from his freshly-cut palms trickled down the core of the Tree, Naruto let his chakra start flowing into the wood in front of him, relaxing as he concentrated on the pain and the chakra, banishing all thoughts of Ino and what it had been like inside the Tree's mind. As the chakra flowed, though, he could feel her, and even the Tree itself, helping the chakra along.

First, it spread up and down the core, all the way from bottom to top of the gigantic wooden being. And through his chakra, he could feel the Tree. For the first time, the blue-eyed boy was truly able to understand just how physically large it was.

He concentrated harder and sped up the chakra flow, the blue energy expanding outwards through the wood in all directions slowly. So very slowly. This would take a long time, he realized.

Already he could feel his body starting to protest the strain. It wasn't chakra overload, like that night that felt like a lifetime ago, when Iruka-sensei had given his life, and Naruto's whole world had changed. No, his chakra coils were in pain from being overworked. But they would hold out for a while yet. They had to.

He deepened his concentration, the Tree now simply an extension of himself, connected by the two spots of intense pain, just as he had trained. The Uzumaki blocked from his thoughts all outside sensations, focusing entirely on the chakra and the way it flowed in him and through him and around the Tree. Then something in his mind and chakra was all he could sense. The entire world was simply chakra flowing about in intricate patterns. No sight. No smell. No hearing. No touch. Nothing but chakra.

He could sense the large concentration of the energy that was himself, and deep within him the impossibly gigantic mass of power that was the Kyuubi. Close by he could feel Ino as well, part of her flowing into and out of the Tree constantly. And through his chakra in the Tree, he could sense even more. Kiba was closest to them, his signature low and muted. Part of him wanted to know what had happened, but the rest kept him Naruto concentrated on the task at hand. As his chakra expanded through the Tree, he picked up Asuma-sensei, Akamaru, Hikari, and the others, along with many others he didn't recognize, most of them weak and fading. The ones that weren't, including those of his friends, were raised beyond normal, and along with the rapid movement, signified battle.

As the chakra in the Tree continued to grow, he could feel others, as well. The people of the Tree village, all depending on him to save their home. His own chakra was starting to flow more wildly now as his coils slowly began to disintegrate. And his near-bottomless reserves were running low as well.

"_No!_" Naruto thought. "_There is _no way_ I'm gonna let myself give out now! Not when I've come this far! Not when all these people need me! I _will_ save the Tree even if I have to kill myself to do it!_" So he willed his chakra to keep flowing properly, even though the complex network of coils that usually guided that flow were in pieces.

After what felt like an eternity, the chakra had spread to every corner of the Tree, to the tip of every leaf and the end of every root. He could feel Ino flaring her own chakra now, being sure to kill off the virus inside of her as well. Seven seconds.

Six.

Naruto knew his own chakra coils were completely gone now.

Five.

There was no chakra of his own left in his body. Just the fox, still sealed away, because there were no chakra coils for it to leak its vile power into.

Four.

How was he even alive, then? Because he was obviously still thinking.

Three.

Then it hit him. He had put so much of his chakra and himself into the Tree that he had essentially made some version of a kage bunshin inside the tree.

Two.

He wasn't really there anymore. His mind and the Tree's were combined into one now.

One.

Naruto and the Great Tree were a single being. He could even feel his own mind functioning differently as it merged with the Tree's.

Zero.

Naruto felt a tremendous surge of power go through him as what used to be his body collapsed in a heap. The virus was gone now, and he was flowing with so much power his previous mind would probably have exploded trying o comprehend it.

Now that he had time to think, he realized that some of his people had turned against their own kind. They had attacked them, tried to kill them, broken their promise to him to care for him as he did them. They were traitors. Naruto hated traitors.

So he killed them. They were all inside of him, so it was easy to just send a bit of his power coursing through them, overloading their weak human bodies with energy.

Now that that was dealt with, there was something else he could do. He could sense the human girl, Ino, now crying over the body of what had once been Uzumaki Naruto. That child had given up his life to save him. A sacrifice like that he had no choice but to repay.

He reached into her mind. **/**_**Do not cry, human. It is within my power to bring the child back, and I owe him a great debt. Move away.**_**/**

She did as commanded, and he sent his energy into the boy, using it to rebuild his destroyed chakra coils. This would be a delicate operation; right now, with the boy dead, the only thing keeping the Beast from escaping was that there was no way out of its prison. The moment the chakra coils connected to the seal, that way would open. By that time, the child would need to be fully alive. He would have to build the rest of the coils, then transfer Naruto's soul and mind along with what was left of the boy's chakra still within his body from when he had killed the virus. Finally, at the last possible moment, he would reconnect the coils around the seal. He got to work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Kyuubi was annoyed. Not concerned or angry or dead (it was simply too powerful to die), as most would expect it to be in this situation, but annoyed. The idiot child had gone and killed himself in his efforts to save that big stick. And not only that, he'd chosen the one way that didn't give the kitsune a chance to take over. Destroying that hunk of wood was now added onto its list of things to do on regaining a body.

Because it would not be stuck in this nothingness forever. No, not even for more than a couple hundred years at most, probably much, much less. When the boy's body was destroyed or decomposed enough (that was the option that would take a bit of time), it would be free once more. Unfortunately, it wouldn't have a body right away, but that problem could be fixed with a thousand or so years of work.

What annoyed the fox wasn't the nothingness it was currently in or the time it would take to fix its situation. What was annoying was the loss of the body it had spent so much effort carefully preparing to house its power. All the work it had put into the boy would now be wasted.

Wait, was that stick...? Yes! Ha! The fox felt like laughing. This was even better than it could have hoped! It paid careful attention as the stick rebuilt the child's chakra coils. If it was quick and lucky, two things the Kyuubi on Kitsune had in spades, it would be fully in control of the body in a manner of minutes! And when the world materialized around it, the cage was open. It dashed forward, ready to seize its freedom much earlier than anticipated.

Only for the gates to close in an instant, causing the fox to run headlong into them. By its tails, did that boy have a powerful mind and soul! No matter, it still had time on its side. Time was always on its side, for it was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, power incarnate, and it was as eternal as its supreme power. It would be patient and keep slowly wearing away at the child.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Asuma looked over his three recovering genin. One recovering from his first kill. One recovering from losing (if only temporarily) her friend. And one recovering from death. He sighed. Why couldn't first missions ever go well? And why did Naruto insist on making everything ten times as complicated?

It had been the better part of a week since that day, and, while the village's three med-nin assured him the boy was improving, he had so far showed no signs of waking up. Ironic how in a foreign village he had the entire senior medical staff taking care of him, while back home, it would usually be a single nurse doing the bare minimum required. Of course, he had needed to go through the hassle of swearing the doctors to secrecy about certain details of the Kyuubi jinchuriki's physiology, but it wasn't too bad, apart from them wanting to take tissue samples for study after getting over their amazement.

Once the Hokage's son had talked Ino and Kiba through their respective problems as much as he could, the two had been spending most of their time at Naruto's bedside. Currently, the whole team was here, including Akamaru. Everyone but the jonin was asleep, for the moment.

Naruto stirred. Then he blinked, followed by shifting around a bit more before awakening fully and slowly sitting up, taking stock of his surroundings.

"Uugh... Asuma-sensei? Where... are we? What happened?"

It would be better not to go into details at the moment. "We're in the hospital in Tree village. You did it, Naruto. You and Ino did it."

The boy smiled, his whole face lighting up with the gesture. "Good... How long... has it been?"

"Five days. The doctors said you'd probably feel really stiff when you first woke up." The man braced himself for the shout of disbelief he knew was coming.

It didn't. Uzumaki Naruto really was one to surprise, wasn't he? "Oh. Is everyone okay?" he asked, stretching to remove said stiffness.

He just couldn't bring himself to outright lie to the blonde. "Your teammates are still recuperating, but they're doing much better than they were. Kiba and Akamaru both took some minor injuries, as did Hikari, Toshiro, and Yumiko. Those are mostly healed now, though. Your friends have barely left this room the past couple days, but you should let them sleep for-"

The conversation was interrupted by a messenger hawk flying into the room to land directly on Asuma's shoulder. He recognized the bird as one of Konoha's, and the clearly-visible designation of the message as a type 2-C aid request made him rush to read it. His eyes widened temporarily, before he turned serious.

"Naruto, I hope you're feeling mostly recovered, because we haven't got any time to waste. I'm going to head to our room and pack our things. You wake the others and tell them to get ready. A genin team was on a C-rank to Wave country, directly south of here, when they ran into serious complications. Now their jonin sensei and one of their team members are out of action, and they need immediate assistance. We're the closest Konoha team to their location. so we're going to to be running south at full speed to get to them. No stops, and when the other two get tired, use kage bunshin to carry them. Understood?"

Apparently his urgency had caught on, as the boy was immediately fully-alert and on his feet. "Yes, sensei! Understood!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

I had a good deal of trouble trying to figure out how I wanted to structure this chapter. Eventually, I decided on what you see: put all the stuff before the main focus in quick, concise reminiscences from Asuma's point of view to get it out of the way, concentrate on the important part, and wrap it all up in the end.

It was interesting trying to think what the mind of an ancient, sentient tree would be like. Obviously, it would be very different from a human mind, but I needed to find a way to show that difference with words. I'm pretty sure I did a good job of that. On a side note, I wonder how many readers thought that the protagonists going into a huge tree to save it from dying was a reference to Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Just to make it clear, it wasn't.

Kiba's first kill, and his reaction to it, was something I had been planning for a long time by this point. The violence with which it occurred served only to amplify the effect. Nothing more on this scene.

Then Naruto, in his efforts to heal the Tree, goes so far that he actually kills himself. With this, I wanted to show that he really was willing to die for the things he believed in, and that it was simply luck and circumstance that he didn't stay that way.

And finally, we have our first glimpse of the Kyuubi. It's evil, it's smart, it's arrogant, it's powerful beyond belief... Pretty much the same as in canon, but taken to an extreme.

Bringing things full circle, we conclude with another scene from Asuma's viewpoint. This wraps things up and leads right into the Wave arc.


	10. arrival at Wave

**chapter 10**

**arrival at Wave**

Before today, Kiba had never thought he would be glad to catch the scent of Uchiha Sasuke. Now, though, that strong, unique combination of sweat and ash was his main guide for finding team ten's location. By the time they reached the small, waterside house, the whole of team seven was ready to collapse.

The dog-boy was completely exhausted, and Ino looked just as bad as he felt. Even Asuma-sensei seemed like he wasted to fall asleep on the spot. By far the worst off was Naruto, though. For his part, Kiba couldn't even understand how the blonde was still standing. He had been running full speed for nearly two days straight, making clones to carry the other two genin when they needed it. Then he'd kept up with the others rowing at high speeds for a further three hours, followed by more running to get to where they were now.

Ino and he were currently supporting the shorter blonde, one of his arms around each of their shoulders, as he had absolutely refused to be carried. Naruto's stubbornness was a bit of a blessing, though, because the boy was a great deal heavier than one would expect, and neither of the other two would have been up to supporting his full weight.

Asuma-sensei's knocking was answered by a woman smelling of cooked fish and saltwater, looking to be in her mid twenties, with long black hair hanging straight down. On seeing their headbands and worn-out state, she immediately ushered them in introducing herself as Tsunami, daughter of the mission client Tazuna.

She led them to an upper room, where they found the other Konoha ninja. Sakura and Sasuke were sitting in chairs by a pair of futons on the floor. In one of the futons lay the masked, silver-haired jonin they had met the night before their team test, Hatake Kakashi. The man's shirt was off, with a swath of bandages going diagonally across his chest. His one grey eye was open, showing him to be awake. The second futon held Shino, who was clearly in extremely bad condition. There was a chunk missing from the right side of his torso, as if a giant blade had cut right through him; the only reason he had been able to survive was because of his bugs. They both clogged up the wound to prevent blood loss and sped up healing.

The arrogant bastard was the first one to speak. "_You're_ the ones they sent to help us?"

None of team seven's genin responded, as all three were too out of breath to waste it on the stuck-up Uchiha. Instead, it was Kakashi-san's lazy voice. "Now, now, Sasuke, be nice. I'm sure they're capable enough."

The dark-haired boy looked over them condescendingly. "Hmph. Capable? They all look like they'll collapse any minute. Especially the idiot there."

That was a bit too much for the Inuzuka. "The reason he's like that, Sasuke, is because he's been running full speed for two days, nonstop, carrying Ino and I over half the way, just to get here in time to save you guys from whatever mess you've gotten into." He was too tired to actually shout.

Sakura wasn't. "Don't lie to Sasuke-kun! An idiot like Naruto could never manage something like that!"

Apparently hearing her former friend insulting her new friend was too much for the blonde kunoichi next to him, as she threw herself at the pink-haired girl, prepared to attack her before Asuma-sensei got in the way. "Do not slight my students. Especially after they have pushed themselves beyond their limits for your sakes. Team, feel free to rest."

_thud_

Hearing that, Naruto had finally let his body and mind give out, leaving the blonde an unconscious pile on the wood floor. Their sensei placed the boy on a third bedroll as the other two genin of team seven made their ways to two more chairs in the room. The bearded jonin sat down next to the other man. "Kakashi, what's the situation? And I can explain it to him when he wakes up." The last bit was added when the horizontal man glanced in the direction of the orange blob next to him.

"Well," he reported, "the client tricked us, told us it was a C-rank when he's got Gato of Gato Corporation after his blood." Everyone in the Shinobi Nations knew of the multi-billionaire business tycoon. "Turns out Gato is trying for a complete economic and political takeover of Wave Country, and the only thing that can stop him is the bridge Tazuna-san is building to connect this place to the mainland, so he hired some missing-nins.

"First were a pari of chunin, the Demon Brothers from Kiri. My genin did well against them, so I figured they'd be able to protect the client while I fought off whoever came next. I definitely wasn't expecting the next attacker to be Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of Kiri, A-rank missing nin and former member of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist.

At one point, he caught me in his Suirio no Jutsu, and Shino took that injury freeing me. Zabuza also managed to get a good slash on my chest before I hit him dead-on with a Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu, then an accomplice of his posing as a Mist hunter nin showed up, put him in a false-death state, and left with the body and sword. I wrote the aid request and sent it off just before passing out from chakra exhaustion, and Sasuke and Sakura carried us here."

After hearing all this, Asuma-sensei stopped to consider everything for a moment. "It would take approximately a week to recover from the false-death combined with the daibakufu, and it's been two days, so, after my students and I recover from traveling, I'll spend the next five days training your two and mine. I'll need a rundown of Sakura and Sasuke's abilities and what you've taught them, then I'm going to take a nap."

Taking a nap... Yeah, that sounded like a good idea...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As they walked through the forest, following Asuma-sensei, Ino and Sakura hung back so they could talk.

"You guys just finished a B-rank? No way." Forehead was in disbelief.

"We did. I'm not gonna go into details till we have more time, but Naruto and I saved a village."

Her pink-haired rival/friend was trying to understand how 'Naruto' and 'saved a village' could possibly be part of the same sentence. "I don't believe it." See? Disbelief.

"Yeah, see, they needed someone who could mind-walk and someone with a ton of chakra. I supplied the mind-walking, he supplied the ton of chakra." Well, maybe she'd go into a bit more detail.

What Sakura said next had her in a state of disbelief. "Oh, well if it's just a bunch of chakra, then I can see it. I bet Sasuke-kun would have been able to do the whole thing no problem."

Did she really used to be like that? Now that the Uchiha had come up, though, it was a perfect chance to help her friend lose her crush on the self-centered boy. Just as she and Naruto had promised that night back in Tree, they were both observing their ex-crushes objectively, and what she had seen of the last Uchiha in less than twenty four hours in his presence made her wonder how she could have ever liked him. Ino needed to break her friend's delusions.

"Forehead, Sasuke has less chakra in his entire body than what Naruto has in his pinky finger."

"Shut up, Ino-pig!" Then the girl's face shifted into a look of glee when she thought about what the blonde had just said. "_Sasuke_? Not _Sasuke-kun_? Does this mean you've finally given up and realized that you have no chance?"

Ino smirked. Psychology lessons with her dad and verbal spars with her teammate had made hr pretty good at manipulating people with words. "Not in the least. I just woke up and realized that it was stupid to waste my time on an arrogant jerk."

"Sasuke-kun is not an arrogant jerk! He's kind, and cool, and popular, and handsome, and strong, and he's got a great body!"

It was time to do to her friend exactly what Naruto had done to her. "Kind? He never smiles and always looks down on everyone. Cool? What does that matter in choosing who you're going to spend the rest of your life with? Popular? You like him because he's _popular_? Sakura, that's unbelieveably shallow. Handsome? Sure, he looks nice, when he isn't brooding, which he seems to do most of the time. Strong? You're saying you want him to care for and protect you your whole life? Where is your sense of pride as a woman, Sakura? And as for his body, let me tell you that _both o_f my teammates are better-looking than him, _especially_ Naruto."

She watched as Sakura searched for a good retort, something more than 'don't insult Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig.' She was clearly coming up blank. Asuma-sensei interrupted the conversation, though, by bringing everyone to a halt in a small clearin the woods near Tazuna-san's house.

"We have a problem." On hearing her sensei start by announcing that there was a problem, Ino paid full attention. "Our problem is that Kakashi has taught you two," he paused to look at the two members of team ten, "absolutely nothing of use. Now, we've only got five days, so that's not enough time to learn very much. What you can learn, though, is better chakra control.

"Sakura and Sasuke, you two will be doing the tree-climbing exercise, which I will show you in a minute. Naruto, Ino, Kiba," they perked up, "since I already taught you three that a while ago, you'll be learning something new: water walking."

"Woohoo! Awesome Asuma-sensei!" It amazed the kunoichi how her fellow blonde could recover completely like that after what most people wouldn't even call a full-night's sleep. She also remembered just how loud he could be. Not that she herself wasn't looking forward to learning how to walk on water, she just didn't see why he needed to be so enthusiastic about it.

The Yamanaka noticed, as well, the glare in their general direction courtesy of Sasuke. The look he was giving them was like he was angry at them for learning something before he did. "I'll learn the water-walking as well." he commanded.

One thing Ino had learned about her sensei through personal experience was that the man had no patience for bossiness or boastfulness. The Uchiha's attitude just then was a combination of both with a large amount of ego to support it. The glare he gave the boy told her he disliked that even more. "You will do what you are told, genin. If you are proficient in the tree-climbing exercise, then, and only then, you will move on to water-walking. Is that clear?"

Asuma-sensei must have thrown in a good amount of killing intent with that glare, because Sasuke was obviously frightened, even though he tried to cover it with his usual broody attitude. "Clear."

"Good," the bearded jonin concluded. "Furthermore, you are all to spend at least two hours a day reading up on Momochi Zabuza and the details of various Suiton jutsu, as he is a master of that element." Then he made use of Naruto's favorite jutsu. One poof of smoke and two Asuma-senseis. "My team, follow me down to the water. You two, stay with my kage bunshin." He led them back toward Tazuna-san's house.

Ten minutes later found Asuma-sensei standing on the water near the bridge-builder's home. He had just finished explaining to them how it was done when Sakura came running up. Ino noticed that her pink-haired friend was panting. "Asuma-sensei... ...your clone said... ...I should come here... ...and work on... ...water walking."

The man stared at her for a moment, evaluating her. "Very well, but I'm also going to have to start you on an accelerated stamina-building program. Being that out of breath after running for that short a time is not acceptable for a ninja. Ino, explain the exercise to her, would you?"

Said blonde glared at her sensei, grumbling about lazy nicotine addicts. As she began telling her fellow kunoichi how to do the exercise, the boys got to work on trying it out. About halfway through her explanation, there was a loud splashing sound, followed immediately by another of the same. They looked over to see two soaking wet boys swimming back to the dock and hoisting themselves onto it. The following conversation immediately caught both girls' attention.

"Screw this! No way am I gonna do this exercise in sopping wet clothes."

Kiba pointed out the problem with that. "You insane? That water's freezing! You want that stuff on your bare skin?"

Naruto was already unzipping his jacket. "Eh, it's not too bad."

The dog boy looked at him like he was crazy (which Ino was pretty sure he was) before shrugging. "Whatever. I'll let my jacket start drying early and let my shirt keep me warm," he conceded, clearly not wanting to lose to the blonde by too much in what had obviously become another ridiculous boy contest in his mind.

So in under thirty seconds, Kiba was in a wet, skin-clinging shirt. Naruto was in just his boxers. Sakura was wide-eyed. Ino whispered "Told ya."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This mission, Naruto decided three days in, sucked worse than the one where they'd spent all day shoveling horse shit. At least then, the members of team seven didn't have to deal with a brooding emo with an ego the size of the Kyuubi, a pink-headed dimwit who irrationally and violently hated him while obsessing over the previously mentioned emo, and a little kid constantly crying away about everything and nothing while talking about how they were all going to die.

He tried to cut Inari some slack, seeing as the boy had lost his dad in such a horrible way. But Tsunami's yummy cooking always just seemed to lose all its flavor whenever he saw those dark, sullen eyes staring at him, so full of anger and pain.

Tonight, though, the eight-year-old decided to grace them with his voice. "Why do you keep trying so hard? It's not like it'll make any difference! Anyone who goes up against Gato just ends up getting killed!"

He tried to just pretend like he didn't care, hoping the child would get tired of his whine-fest soon "Whatever. We're different from all those other people."

"SHUT UP!" the kid cried. "I'd hate to be like you! You don't know anything about this country, but you're always butting your nose in! What the hell do you think you know about me? I'm different from you, always joking around, acting so cheerful! You don't know anything about how hard life can be!"

Naruto was careful to keep his emotions in check, as he could feel the fox at the back of his mind, wanting to use his anger at the little idiot to its own advantage.

"Oh yeah, you have it so bad, don't you? Wake up, kid. The only reason your life sucks so much is because you're letting it. You have food and a home, and more importantly a mom and grandpa who love and care for you. You've got your memories of the good times with your dad, too. Yeah, he died, I know. People do that, dying. But if you're gonna just let that rule you forever, you might as well not be alive at all."

_C'mon Naruto. What's the point of all this if you're just gonna sit around and cry all the time?_

"Tears aren't gonna do anything but make you feel worse."

_Whining like this whenever things don't go your way won't get you anywhere in life._

"If you wanna be a crybaby for the rest of your life, feel free, but don't take it out on those of us who are working our asses off to make something of ourselves."

_Right, from this day on, no more crying. They glare at you, you smile. They spit on you, you wipe it off. They insult you, you show them their words mean nothing. they _beat _you, you learn from the pain and grow. You laugh in their faces as they try to hold you back. And all the while, you grow stronger, until they can't ignore you, until they finally see the real you instead of the monster they all call you. That's a promise._

"I'm gonna go train s'more. Thanks for dinner Tsunami-san." No one tried to stop him, or even moved for that matter, as he got up and walked out of the house. Once outdoors, he ran about ten miles into the woods, deep enough that no one would disturb him, nor he anyone else.

He had gotten the water-walking down pretty well earlier in the day, so all he could work on right now was physical stuff. Good, he needed to hit something right about now. The orange-clad genin warmed up by attacking a tree, beating on the thick wood from all sides and angles for about an hour, using everything he knew of the dancing wave fist. Then he took a couple deep breaths, before putting his hands into a cross-shaped seal.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"**

A large plume of smoke signaled the appearance of sixty clones. Ten of them leapt off into the trees to watch. They would observe the whole thing and take notice of any particularly good bits or things that needed improvement. The remaining fifty stayed behind. These were a special kind of shadow clone he had figured out how to make. By using about two hundred times as much chakra as normal per clone, they became much more durable, needing a good hit like a deep stab or broken bone before dispelling.

Naruto smiled as his body shifted into battle mode and he took out a pair of kunai. He was really looking forward to working off some pent-up anger tonight. The kage bunshin apparently felt the same way, as they all mirrored his actions perfectly. As one, they moved.

He bent his knees a bit more while leaning further forward to dodge a swipe he heard coming at his back. At the same time, his right arm shot out, stabbing at the clone right in front of him, forcing him to move away. Then his left leg thrust backwards at the one that had just come at him from behind. Apparently, the clone hadn't expected him to react so quickly, as it didn't have time to put enough chakra into its bottom two left ribs before his heel connected, breaking them both and dispelling it. Idiot.

Then he realized it was a trap, putting him in an awkward position as four more clones came, one from each side, another from behind, and the final from above. Luckily, the one on the left got there first. Dropping his kunai in his left hand, Naruto grabbed the kage bunshin's arm while leaping off the ground with his right leg. The now-midair replica was swung at the one that had previously been airborne before being released, sending both flying. Keeping him for more than a split-second would result in some kind of retaliation, which wouldn't be good.

As he was coming down, a pair of clones leapt up to meet him. He managed to push the first's punch out of the way with his forearm, but the second he couldn't stop. Instead, the blonde channeled chakra to his chest so that the bones there would stay intact. That did nothing about the fact that he was now airborne again. When coming down the second time, the same thing happened, except that the blow that got through was a kick to the gut.

The third time, though, he had a surprise waiting for them. "_You wanna play keep-up? Try it now!_" Naruto gathered a large amount of chakra before doing a henge. What had previously been a hundred fifteen pound boy was now a three ton boulder. He turned back to his normal self just before hitting the ground, as holes were hard places to get out of when facing multiple opponents each just as strong, smart, and skilled as yourself, and only very slightly slower.

During this time, the number of clones had gone down to forty three, as not all of them were content to team up on the original. They all got the memories of each destroyed clone as it went, forcing Naruto to work on quickly assimil... whatever that word was new information quickly while still fighting just as fast.

All the blue-eyed boy had deserted his kunai, their need for blood quenched by the pair of slashed throats. By an unspoken signal, they moved on to pure taijutsu, which started with the real one taking a painful fingertip strike to the back. A fingertip strike in the dancing wave fist is different from in any other style. Since the hand is normally in a halfway position between flat and closed, the fingers extend outward just before contact, adding the force from the very end of that uncurling motion to the force from the regular strike. Hard on the fingers, but the results, when done well enough, were like blunt claws digging into you. It hurt a lot.

Naruto tried the rear kick again, but this clone wasn't about to repeat the same mistake as the first one to go poof. Which was good, because the kick had been a feint. He threw his upper body backwards, grabbed himself by the shoulder and head, and twisted. Did snapping his own neck count as suicide? No time to think on that, though, as he had to fall fully back onto the ground to dodge another of himself that had just been sent flying by a kick, probably to the lower chest. He had managed to chakra-reinforce the area, though, as he wasn't dispelling.

The blonde pushed off to the right just as a heel strike came down exactly where his left shoulder was laying. He wasn't fast enough to keep it from clipping him, though, so his push-off turned into more of a weird, uncontrolled spin. All four limbs thrashed out right away, repelling any attackers and dispelling one who tried to block with his upper arm.

The fighting went on for nearly three hours like this, the Narutos taking blows and giving blows, most of them not serious, but occasionally a good one would get through. As the numbers dwindled, the rate they went down at decreased.

Now, there were only four left, three clones and the original. The one that wasn't the product of a jutsu now had two broken ribs on his right side, a dislocated left shoulder (which he immediately popped back into place once he noticed it), and a cracked left shin bone, in addition to several more fingertip strikes all over his body. In one section of the area, there were some scorched trees and burnt grass from when one of the replicas had decided to try the Guokakyu no Jutsu. He'd taken out ten clones at once, including himself from burning the inside of his mouth and lungs.

The four Narutos all opted for a bit of close-range fighting. Twisting to dodge an elbow, while catching a knee with his left hand, and using his right to fend off another knee by shoving its owner sideways, a sudden idea hit him. He yanked the captured knee towards himself, putting its owner off balance. he other him shot his arms forward push off of him and stabilize, but that was exactly what he wanted. The hand switched from the knee to just above the elbow and, pulling on the limb while leaning forward, ignoring the knee now moving toward the lower left side of his torso in favor of seeing how his idea turned out, bit into the clone's arm.

Sharp teeth sank deeply into the kage bunshin's biceps just as the knee struck home. That hit was its final action before going up in smoke. As the remaining two paused for a split second to add in the unusual memory, he let himself move with the strike, using the momentum to add force to the elbow he threw at the clone to his right, shattering two ribs that it had been too stunned to bother chakra reinforcing at all.

He and the final clone were now several feet apart. Being in the worse condition, the real Naruto decided to attack first. He went for a fingertip strike at the replica's chest, but he saw it coming and leapt back, using the longer reach of his legs to hit him in the chest. It wasn't a particularly powerful blow, seeing as the kage bunshin was moving away from him at the time, but it stalled him.

This time, the other him came in for the attack, with a hard punch at his already broken ribs. Knowing it would hurt like hell, Naruto moved _into_ the strike. He then grabbed the clone's forearm with both hands and pulled it down hard while bringing his left knee up powerfully to connect with it. Yet again, he had managed to surprise his replication to the point where it didn't think to channel chakra. The blow actually managed to tear the arm off at the point it connected. There was a brief scream of pain, which he felt for himself an instant later when the memories transferred.

Now that it was all done, the ten observer clones poofed away, giving him their views and opinions on the fight. He went over them while walking slowly to another part of the woods. The injuries meant he'd have to stop for the night, and he'd already read everything the Konoha shinobi had with them about Momochi Zabuza and Suiton jutsu (the stuff about the latter seemingly everything except how to actually perform the damn things). So he made his way to a nice, peaceful clearing and laid down on the grass. It was too late and he was too tired and injured to go back to Tazuna's house, and sleeping outside wasn't something he had ever really minded. So he closed his eyes for the night.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

About the Wave mission, I personally think the early parts of it, up through the first fight with Zabuza, are very hard to write in a way that isn't boring to readers. At the same time, just cutting it out entirely isn't an option, as it's a major landmark in Naruto's development as a ninja. My solution, then, was for them to join in part-way through.

Doing this also let me have some interaction amongst canon team seven. Sakura hasn't really been affected by the lack of Naruto as a teammate, but Sasuke, on the other hand... Hopefully I made it clear that Sasuke is even more of a stuck-up jerk than in canon at this point. His attitude is a direct result of the lack of constant exposure to Naruto as a cheery rival.

Of course, there's also a good bit of Ino Sakura interaction. By this point, Ino has been disillusioned of her crush on the Uchiha, and so sees Sakura as a friend again, instead of a rival for love. Sakura, on the other hand, is a bit too stubborn to give up on Sasuke just yet.

As for Naruto's chewing out of Inari, I really wanted to emphasize the parallels the boy is drawing between the two of them, which is the main source of his unusual burst of anger. Then, with the kage bunshin fight after that, I was giving readers an idea of just how Naruto fights and what kind of training he puts himself through.


	11. a new friend

**chapter 11**

**a new friend**

"You'll catch a cold sleeping in a place like this." The kind voice and a gentle shake to his shoulder roused Naruto from his sleep. The first thing that registered clearly in his mind was the person who had woken him.

She was a girl, about Hikari's age, but even prettier than the young kunoichi, dressed in a light pink kimono. There was something about her eyes that made him like the unknown girl right away.

The second thing he noticed was that it was daylight, early morning to be exact. Waking up after sunrise wasn't something the blonde was used to; he must have damaged his body more than he had thought in last night's training to have needed to sleep so long. A quick check showed that everything was fully-healed and working fine. Now he should probably say something to the girl staring down at him with caring brown eyes.

The boy sat up. "Thanks for the concern, but there's no need to worry about me. I don't get sick easily, and besides, I like sleeping outside." He smiled at her. It really was nice to find a person he had never before met caring about his health.

She looked amused. "Oh really? It looks to me more like you just laid down there out of exhaustion."

Naruto gave her a sheepish grin. "Well , yeah. I was out training last night, and I guess I kinda overdid it."

He saw her eyes go to his headband, then back to his face. "Training? You're a ninja, then?"

He grinned widely. His status as a ninja was something he took great pride in. "Yep! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konoha and future Hokage! What's your name, miss?"

Apparently she found something he had said funny, as he could hear the laughter in her voice as she answered. "I'm Haku. It's nice to meet you, Naruto."

Haku. A pretty name for a pretty girl. "Nice to meet you, too, Haku. Say, what are you doing out here this early?"

She gestured to the basket on the ground next to her. "I'm collecting herbs. A close friend of mine was injured while he was at work the other day, and the herbs are to help him heal faster."

Haku's shift in mood as she spoke showed clearly just how much she cared for her friend. "I happen to know a bit about plants. Mind if I help?" The genin actually did know a little about different types of plants and herbs. He'd gone through three books on the topic as part of the reading Asuma-sensei had him doing every day. He'd picked plants because they were related to gardening, which he enjoyed.

"Feel free. I'm looking for ones that look like this." She picked one of the herbs out of her basket to show him.

"Ah! I saw some of those growing just over this way a bit." Naruto led her to a patch of various grasses he'd passed by last night while stumbling away from the site of his kage bunshin battle.

On arriving, the two spent several minutes just picking herbs in silence, before Haku decided to restart their conversation. "You say you're going to become Hokage? That's a fairly lofty goal."

Despite the words themselves, her tone told the boy she wasn't mocking him. "It's my dream," he responded simply.

For a brief moment, she had what could almost be called a wistful look on her face,then it was gone. "Your dream, huh? Why do you want to be Hokage, though?"

He hadn't really though about the reasons behind his dream since well before he became a ninja. Still, though, his answer came without hesitation. "There's a few things. At first, I wanted it so that people would acknowledge me, see me for myself, instead of... I never had any parents, or really much of anyone to care for me, you see, so growing up was hard. Now, though, I think I'm doing it more for my sensei. He died, believing in me and my dream; I have to show the world that his belief wasn't misplaced. Finally, I care for Konoha, its people and what it stands for. I want to be Hokage so that I can protect them all."

"So you follow your dream for others, then." Her brown eyes were held a serious, thoughtful look now. The statement itself was a bit confusing though.

"What d'you mean?" Naruto asked.

"It is my belief," she said, "that a person can become truly strong only when protecting someone precious to them. I think you understand that."

Thinking about it, he seemed to remember Hokage-Jiji saying something similar once. "Yeah, I do."

Haku smiled. "Well then, I, too, will believe in your dream, Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konoha and future Hokage." She paused for a moment, then her expression turned curious. "Say, what's a Konoha genin doing all the way out here in a poor place like Wave Country? Or are you not allowed to tell?"

"No, it's okay," the orange-clad boy answered. "My team and I are out here assisting another genin team. They ran into trouble during their mission, and their jonin sensei and one of the genin were badly injured. Kakashi-sensei isn't gonna be back in good condition anytime soon, and Shino'll probably take at least a week before he can walk again." Some instinct tucked away inside him somewhere made him exaggerate the masked jonin's condition. His former classmate, though, really was as bad off as he had said. "What're you here for, though? I can tell you don't live here."

The pretty girl seemed surprised. "Really? How can you tell?"

"You don' have that same dull, tired, hopeless look that all the people here do. If I ever get the chance, I'm gonna kill Gato for what he's doing to this place," he growled out the last bit.

Haku looked a bit unnerved by the sudden display of anger. "I... see. I'm here helping my uncle. I only got here a few weeks ago, and I usually stay out of town, so the depressing aura hasn't gotten to me yet. This is enough," she pointed at the basket now full of herbs, as they had kept picking them the whole time. "Thank you for the help and the conversation."

"You're welcome." Seeing that she was about to leave, the boy felt compelled to say something more. "Hey, Haku. Even though we'll probably never see each other again, d'you think we could be friends?"

She smiled at him. "Certainly, Naruto-kun. Friends it is. And who knows, maybe you will be wrong, and we will meet again somewhere." She started walking away, then turned to look over her shoulder and add one last thing. "Oh, and by the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto's brain ground to a halt as it took in this new information, leaving him standing there stunned as his new friend walked away, laughing at the way his mouth had become a perfect 'O' of surprise.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba was, yet again, unsure of what to do with himself at the moment. Asuma-sensei had assigned him the task of guarding Tazuna today as he worked on the bridge. He couldn't even help with the work; a lot of the stuff required the doer to actually know what they were doing, and any basic labor would use up energy, energy he'd need to protect everyone and hold out for reinforcements if the bridge were attacked.

"Hey, Kiba." It was worse than just that, though. Sakura was with him.

"Hi Sakura." The pink-haired girl had been relatively quiet the last couple days though, thankfully. And Naruto's... whatever that had been... at dinner last night had made her slightly quieter still that night and this morning. Apparently it was wearing off.

"Arf! /_Sakura forgot about me again?_/" Akamaru asked from on top of his head.

"Oh yeah, hi to you too, Akamaru," she added to the dog, too late, before sitting down next to them on the side of the bridge.

Come to think of it, she hadn't been too annoying during this mission. Probably because most of her time was spent elsewhere, with a clone of Asuma-sensei going through her accelerated stamina-building program. Sensei had downright refused to tell any of them just what he had the girl doing, saying that it was specially designed for ninja in Sakura's situation and that any of the rest of them attempting it would either have no significant results or severely damage their bodies in the process. Whatever it was, though, it was clearly working, as the girl could now last trough a regular training session.

"You know, I've had a lot of stuff on my mind lately. May I talk to you about it?"

This was officially one of the weirdest moments of his life. First of all, Sakura was being polite. Secondly, she was wanting to talk to him. That was two things Kiba had never seen before happening at the same time. He wasn't sure what to do.

"Rff. /_Why not listen to whatever she has to say? Nothing better to do right now_/" his companion suggested quietly.

"Sure, go ahead. But first, why me? Wouldn't Ino be better to talk to about this stuff?"

The perfume-scented girl sighed. "Normally, yeah. But some of this is about Ino."

The dog boy immediately moved away in fear. "Oh no! You're not involving me in any of that girl stuff! No way am I gonna get on Ino's bad side!"

Showing her more violent side, she hit him on the head. Hard. "Stupid! This is serious! She said some things the other day that, well, they got me thinking. Questioning stuff I've believed for a long time. And now... Well, I'm not really sure I know what to do with myself anymore."

He'd never seen anyone looking quite as lost and confused as she did while talking. Despite hating her guts, Kiba felt he had to cheer her up. It was his duty as a fellow Konoha ninja. "Y'know, the one you want to talk to is probably Naruto. He's amazing at motivational speeches. The knucklehead's not here right now, though, so I guess I'll have to do.

"Do you have a dream in life?" He didn't wait for the girl to answer, instead just going right on. "During the mission we were on just before coming here, I killed someone. Naruto and Ino were doing something that needed their full concentration, and it was my job to protect them. There were some other ninjas attacking us. Asuma-sensei took care of most of them, but one got past me and was heading for my teammates. I chased after him, and when I caught up to him, I killed him.

"He was a boy, about our age. He had been following orders, fighting for what he believed in just like we were, and I killed him. Later, after it was all over, Sensei came and talked to me about it. He said that... that as ninja, killing is something we'll have to do sometimes. We shouldn't like it, though, and never do it unless we have no other option. And whenever we do kill, it should be to protect our dreams and the dreams of our friends.

"I'm telling you all this because, after it happened, I felt the way you look. Lost, confused, questioning why I was doing what I did. But Asuma-sensei reminded me. I have a dream, a goal I'm trying to reach, and no matter what happens, I've got to keep that goal in sight and keep working towards it.

"Umm, hopefully that helped and didn't just depress you."

Sakura smiled. For a second, she even looked kinda cute, before the Inozuka banished that thought from his mind. "Yeah, it was helpful. Thanks for talking. I'm going to go see how things are going over there now. Bye Kiba, Akamaru." She started walking towards the part of the bridge she had pointed to.

"Bye."

"Arf! /_Bye, Sakura. That didn't turn out too bad, did it?_/"

"You're right, boy, it wasn't so bad. Weird." And now he was back to doing nothing again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Before going back to the hideout, Haku had taken a walk through town. Contrary to what he had said to Naruto-kun that morning, he had in fact never been there. It was just as bad as he had feared. Every face reminded him of his own, back when he had been living on the streets. Every child brought back memories of the time before Zabuza-sama had found him. To think that they were helping the man who had caused this...

But that didn't matter. He was Zabuza-sama's weapon, his tool. Zabuza-sama's dreams were his dreams. A shinobi had no room for emotions.

Which made him wonder just what he had been doing with the short blonde. While the intelligence he had gleaned from the boy would be invaluable, he had gone far past the point of simple information gathering. Talking about dreams, agreeing to become his friend; it would hurt when the time came to fight Naruto.

But for now, he needed to speak to Zabuza-sama, to give him the herbs and information. He walked into the room where his master lay, still in bed recovering.

"Zabuza-sama, I have returned."

The man turned his head towards the door. "Haku. What took so long?"

"I met someone while out picking herbs. A ninja. It seems Konoha has sent another genin team as backup. The boy believed me to be an ordinary girl and gave up some information during casual conversation. Hatake Kakashi will not be in fighting condition as soon as you will; that cut you put on his chest must have nicked something important. And the one genin you injured is alive, but will not be recovered for several weeks."

Zabuza-sama considered all this. "Hmm... That still leaves us with five genin, two of which are complete unknowns, and a jonin we know nothing about. The chances of him being on level with the Copycat are low, though. What did you learn about this boy you met?"

Haku paused. Telling him about the friendship part would be pointless, so he chose to leave it out. "His name, as he says, is Uzumaki Naruto. He is young, the same age as the other three, and not at all suited to life as a shinobi. Much too kind, open, and trusting. And he wears bight orange. Physically, it was hard to tell much, given the situation. The baggy jacket ad pants he wore hid his frame fairly effectively. His chakra capacity is fairly high, though, as I could sense it without much difficulty."

"I see," the man said. "So we'll be up against five genin and one jonin tomorrow. Looks like we'll need the Demon brothers; it's a good thing we freed them before the Konoha ANBU got there. Now that that is out of the way, why don't you get started with your herbs?"

Haku sighed mentally; he had hoped that the increase in the number of opponents would convince Zabuza-sama to abandon the mission. No such luck, though. As much as he himself had misgivings about what they were doing, it was not his place to bring them up. A good weapon does not argue with its master. He got to work on the man's injuries. 'Tomorrow would be an eventful day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

This chapter was really just a brief interlude before the big fight. The Naruto Haku scene at the beginning is one I've always liked a lot, so I hope I did it justice and showed how my Naruto's different experiences made it play out differently.

The scene after that, with Kiba and Sakura, was a point that had me stuck for a while when first writing the chapter. I needed to do something, so I decided to take the two characters least likely to interact and put them together. Personally, I think it worked out pretty well, considering the confused state I'd left Sakura in last chapter.

The final scene, as usual, is there to wrap things up and setup for the next chapter, as well as giving a further glimpse into Haku's mind.


	12. bridge to the future

**chapter 12**

**bridge to the future**

It was the morning of the fifth day since team seven's arrival in Wave, the first day that, by the predictions of the two jonin, Zabuza would be well enough to come after Tazuna again. During that time, Nsruto, Ino Kiba, and Sakura had gotten the water walking exercise down, and Sasuke had been able to master the tree climbing.

Because of the increased chance of attack, Asuma-sensei had all of them come to the bridge, along with Kakashi-sensei. The silver-haired jonin wasn't completely recovered yet, but he was well enough to assist Jiji's son.

As a precaution, Naruto, instead of coming himself, sent two shadow clones, one to dispel and alert him if the missing nin showed up, the other one of the tougher clones to hold out until the real blonde arrived. He himself would be at the bridge-builder's house just in case Tsunami and Inari were targeted.

The little boy had been avoiding him ever since dinner the other night, leaving the young ninja with nothing to do but talk to his mother. The woman was really friendly and open, making her easy to talk to. And as he hardly knew her, Naruto found himself able to talk about things he never would have with his friends.

One of the best part of speaking with Tsunami, though, was that she was someone who could think of him without any of the Kyuubi-based bias that everyone in Konoha had. Realizing that an opportunity like this wouldn't come up often, the blonde, after swearing her to secrecy and making sure Shino was asleep and Inari out of hearing distance, told her about the fox.

Her reaction was better than he could have expected. Instead of fearing him, or sympathizing with him, she didn't really seem to care about the demon itself.

"Well, Naruto-kun, it seems you've had a pretty hard life, and I can understand now why you were so angry with Inari the night before last."

"Yeah, the way he acts was bringing up some painful memories of how I-" The rest of his sentence was interrupted by a rush of memories to his brain. Traveling to the bridge, seeing it covered in fog, the injured and dead workers... "Damn it," he grumbled. "Gotta go, there's trouble at the bridge. Thanks for listening." Not giving her time to respond, he deactivated his chakra weights and dashed off at full speed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba and the others were standing in a protective outward circle around Tazuna. Using his enhanced nose, he had picked up the scents of four people a little ways away in the mist. Asuma-sensei and Kakashi-sensei were facing in that direction, with with everyone else covering the others in case there was something his or Akamaru's noses had missed.

A deep voice drifted out of the fog. "I'm surprised to see you here, Hatake. We were under the impression that you would take some more time to recover."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I really don't need to be at full strength to deal with the likes of you," the masked jonin answered cooly.

The voice spoke again as its owner and the other three faded into view. It was Zabuza.. "Heh, if you really think that way." He turned to his subordinates. "Meizu, Gozu, take the two you fought with before, I'll handle the jonin." Then to the masked boy. "You keep the rest out of the way."

Sensei then gave his own orders. "Ino, help Sakura and Sasuke.. Once you're done, I want the three of you guarding Tazuna. Naruto and Kiba, keep the masked one busy. Kakashi, you're with me." The Konoha ninja immediate grouped themselves appropriately.

Then, the fighting started.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

While he was speeding through the forest, something caught the attention of Naruto's nose, then his eyes. It was a dead boar, sliced up by a katana just for the fun of it, apparently, about a half hour ago. Worse still, a trail of further slashes led back in the direction he had just come from. "_Hold on a few more minutes, guys. I'll be there soon,_" he thought, before rushing back the way he had come, towards the unguarded Tsunami, Inari, and Shino.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Think before you go charging straight in, you idiot!" Ino shouted at her temporary teammate while blocking a punch from Meizu with her forearm, leaving an opening for Sakura to kick him in the ribs. Fortunately, Asuma-sensei's orders to read up on Zabuza had led the blonde to also read up on the Demon Brothers. Knowing that they preferred teamwork, she had been about to suggest that they use some teamwork of their own to divide the two missing-nin. Unfortunately, Sasuke (definitely not Sasuke-kun anymore) had taken that moment to try and take them both on by himself, after clearly announcing his intentions. He got his ass handed to him, and she and her pink-haired friend had been forced to jump in.

"Don't lecture me!" he commanded, while forcing his own opponent back with several well-thrown kunai.

"Yeah, don't lecture Sasuke-kun!" Damn it! Sakura had seemed to be doing so much better the past few days! What had happened? Oh, right; middle of a life-or-death battle not a good place to think about that.

She kept on as though the obsessed girl hadn't spoken, while both sides regrouped. "I just saved your life, I'll lecture you all I want. We have the advantage in numbers here, so let's work together and finish these guys off quick. You both know maneuver 27-D?"

"Hmph. Teamwork drills is all Kakashi's had us do since becoming a team. I'll be person one. Sakura, you're three." Amazing. He could be arrogant and controlling when answering a simple yes-or-no question.

At least he had the sense not to order them to start, especially since 27-D was a surprise maneuver, to be initiated on a count of three after everyone knows their parts. Their two opponents weren't going to give them that time, though, already coming in.

Two.

All the better, then, as it was a mid-combat maneuver.

One.

Ino twirled out of the way of a kick from Gozu, getting into position. The man started forming handseals, and she was able to identify the jutsu after the first four from her study of the brothers. This would work perfectly.

Zero.

"**Suiton: Teppodama no Jutsu"** (water element: water bullet jutsu)

In a move that was the kind of crazy she'd learned by spending too much time around Naruto, Ino leapt backwards as the projectile came at her, rotating so she would hit it feet-first. With the water-walking, the kunoichi was then able to use its momentum to add a boost to her sideways jump at Meizu.

Meanwhile, the brother she had just been fighting turned to face Sakura, who Ino had been distracting him from, only to find her finishing up some handseals for a kawarimi with Sasuke.

Both missing-nins were taken completely by surprise from the sudden complete opponent switch, leaving them open. The Yamanaka kicked her new foe in the stomach, her momentum combined with the chakra in the kick sending him flying all the way until he crashed into the side of the bridge, where Sakura threw eight kunai at him, penetrating deeply into his arms, legs, chest, and torso. While Sasuke, who had been fully prepared for the change, stabbed the kunai that was already in his hand straight into his enemy's neck.

Pushing that thought from her mind for a moment (they were ninja, it was their job to kill), she dashed over to the downed Meizu and gave him a chop to the back of the neck, sending him into unconsciousness.

Ino was jogging away when the Uchiha's emotionless voice stopped her. "Wait, we're not done yet." He was looking at the still-living ex-Mist nin his temmate had just finished tying up

The pink-haired girl was the first to react. "Sasuke-kun, he's out. Unconscious and tied up," she said, in a quiet, worried voice.

This time his voice wasn't emotionless, it was cold. "I'm not taking any chances. You two can look away if you want."

Somehow, as the two girls made their way towards Tazuna, the sound of metal slicing through flesh was clearly audible even over the sounds of battle.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto managed to arrive just in time, it seemed. A pair of samurai thugs were in the middle of dragging Tsunami from the house. Before he had time to take them out and rescue her, though, something completely unexpected happened. Inari, little cryvbaby Inari, came running out the slashed-apart door with a kitchen knife.

"Let my mother go!"

One of the samurai, a muscular, shirtless man with an eyepatch, chuckled cruelly.

The boy's mother was suddenly both furious and terrified at the same time. "If you hurt him, I'll bite through my tongue an-"

The other thug, a white-haired man with a hat on his head, hit her in the back of the neck with the hilt of his katana. "Go to sleep."

Understandably, Inari's reaction was to charge at them, screaming. Of course, that would get him killed, so Naruto intervened.

Moving faster than any of the three civilians could track, he got between them and the boy, clasping one hand tightly around each samurais' hands, completely immobilizing their swords mid-swing. He was facing towards Inari, giving the kid a smile. "Hey, thanks for proving me wrong about you, Inari. That was really brave of you, trying to help your mom like that." Behind him, a kage bunshin had already freed Tsunami of the ropes around her wrists and was waking her up.

The little boy was wide-eyed. "Naruto, you look so cool!"

Kinda hard for him to judge, but the blonde did suppose he looked kinda cool like this.

"Hey, don't ignore us!" the goon on the left shouted.

"Yeah, we're still here!" from goon number two.

These two may have been idiots, but they were vicious and cruel as well, so the genin had no pity for them as he turned to gaze over his shoulder at them. "Okay," he said coldly, before tightening his grip to his maximum, crushing their hands, before flinging his arms to the side, launching both thugs into the water.

The blonde and his clone each walked out to one of the floating men and picked them up out of the water by the shoulder with one hand while the other delivered a chop to the back of the neck. After going back to the wood platform, he turned to Inari again as the clone got to work tying them up. The kid's eyes were even wider now. "Th-thanks, Naruto-niichan!"

He was Naruto-niichan just like that? It must have been a little kid thing, Because Konohamaru had started calling him niichan pretty suddenly too. "No problem. But I've gotta go; everyone's in trouble over at the bridge. I'll need you to watch over these two and take care of your mom, okay, Inari?"

For the first time since he'd met the boy, he saw him smiling happily somewhere besides a photograph. "Sure thing, Niichan, you can count on me!"

Naruto returned the smile. "Great! I'll see you again after I go save your grandpa. Bye!" And he once again started sprinting to the bridge, hoping his teammates were doing all right.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The combined assault of Kiba, Akamaru, and the Naruto clone was proving to be too much for the masked boy. He was faster and more skilled than any one of them, plus those ice jutsu from what must have been a bloodline limit, but three-on-one they were overpowering him with brute force.

That is, until the boy backed off after a vicious kick to the chest from the Inuzuka. "It looks like I cannot afford to play around with you any longer. Very well, I shall show you my true speed."

That definitely didn't sound good. Before they had time to prevent it, he had already finished his handseals.

"**Hyoton: Makyo Hyosho"**

The dog boy found himself and the others suddenly surrounded by a dome of floating mirrors made of ice, reflecting nothing but light. A moment later, they were all reflecting the fake hunter nin. His voice came from all the reflections at once. "I am sorry, but this fight is now over."

The next thing Kiba knew was tiny, piercing lances of pain all over his body. When his other senses returned an instant later, he found a dozen senbon sticking into him, Akamaru in the same condition, the juujin bunshin now dispelled, and a cloud of smoke where Naruto's clone had been, the needles having penetrated deep enough to disperse it. This was not good at all.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Despite having a two-on-one advantage, Asuma was finding himself hard-pressed against the Demon of the Mist. The man was on a level slightly above himself, just as Kakashi normally was, and his Sharingan-wielding ally wasn't up to his full strength. Essentially, it was a pretty even fight. The wind user wanted to use a jutsu and clear away this heavy mist, but his opponent wasn't giving him a chance, leaping out at the two jonin from all directions, each time with no warning whatsoever.

In the distance, he heard Kiba screaming in pain, Akamaru yelping, and a poof of smoke that signified the death of Naruto's clone. What was taking the boy so long?

Zabuza used chakra to project his voice from all directions. "Heh, now that Haku's used that jutsu, the fight is over for your students."

"You seem pretty confident," he shot back, "But you know nothing about Naruto and Kiba."

"Oh? Just what's so special about those two, then? From what I've seen, they both looked like fresh genin, with no experience at all. Not ready to be ninjas; I can tell they haven't killed yet."

The Hokage's son smirked. "Actually, both boys have had their first kills for a little while now, but that isn't what I was talking about. You see, Kiba's strong, not the type to give up easily. And Naruto, he's the number one most unpredictable ninja in Konoha!"

"**Fuuton: Kaze Hitofuki no Jutsu"** (wind element: wind blast jutsu)

A strong wind blew across the entire bridge, clearing away the mist and nearly bowling over an unprepared Tazuna. The origin of the blast was none other than Naruto, his hands still in the final seal for the jutsu.

Asuma hadn't just instructed his blue-eyed student in water walking. Given the boy's ridiculous chakra reserves and his tendency to completely overpower any ninjutsu he attempted, the man had also taught him this D-rank jutsu for just this kind of situation, knowing Zabuza's love of the Kirigakure no Jutsu. Of course, it wasn't supposed to be that powerful.

"Everyone! Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!" He made a mental note to work on the boy's habit of showing off and shouting at inappropriate times. It resulted in things like A-rank missing-nin from Kiri throwing trios of shuriken at the obvious orange target, forcing his jonin sensei to rush to deflect them with his trench knives.

"Stop being a knucklehead and go help your teammate," he ordered.

With a quick "Yes, Sensei!" the blonde dashed off to the mirror dome.

The bearded jonin turned to face the other two. "Shall we finish this, then?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Kiba, Akamaru, you two ready to get this guy?" Naruto asked him as soon as he had come inside the mirrors.

Truthfully the Inuzuka had been starting to lose confidence with each wave of senbon that hit him and his companion, but his teammate's hard, determined blue eyes managed to give him new hope. "Yeah, let's do this." Both boys grinned.

"I am sorry," interrupted their opponent, "but even now you two have no chance of escaping from my jutsu, but I am glad to see that the real you has finally arrived, Naruto-kun."

"Shut up, no-face!" shouted the blonde. "Me and Kiba'll beat you if we have to die trying! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The dog-boy used the smoke as cover to start a Tsugaa, aiming to crash through one of the mirrors. He learned the hard way, though, that chakra-compacted ice is really hard, as he and all the Narutos were riddled with more small metal needles. The boys of team seven attempted several variations on that plan several times, each ending in failure. Even when they got Akamaru back up and tried with him, they still got nowhere. "Right, something different this time," he whispered to Naruto, "Why don't you use a Guokakyu and see if we can melt our way out?"

The fox-and-ramen-scented ninja looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you crazy? With my control, I'd just end up roasting all of us!"

"Oh, right. Any of your insane ideas?" he asked, hoping for a yes.

The foxy smirk was all the answer he needed. "I've got a couple. Hey! Hunter-nin-san! Why haven't you killed us yet?"

Yep, asking the enemy why he hadn't killed them definitely qualified as insane. But his friend wasn't done yet. "I mean, you're fast enough that we can't even see you, but even on my clones, you haven't been going for any vital spots. You want to keep this up all day? Cause we can if you do!"

Their masked opponent remained calm. "You are right. I have no wish to kill you, but shinobi are meant to be tools. Zabuza-sama's dream for me is to make me the perfect tool, and his dreams are my dreams. So for Zabuza-sama, I will harden my heart and kill."

Kiba had gotten to know his friend well enough over the past few months that he expected him to start shouting at the older boy, trying to convince him that he was wrong. Surprisingly, the blonde did nothing of the sort. Instead of outraged, he became serious. "You're wrong, but I can tell you won't listen to anyone right now. Ready, Kiba, Akamaru?"

As was usual with Naruto, he had no idea what to be ready for, so he answered, "For anything."

"Arf! /_Whatever you've got planned, go ahead and do it_/"

But the blue-eyed genin never got a chance. From his position, the Inuzuka saw something his teammate missed. Two senbon, flying towards the back of his neck. There wasn't time to shout a warning. Instead, he shoved the blonde out of the way, taking the hits himself. Everything stopped.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

From his position sprawled on the ground, Naruto took an instant to register what had just happened. When he did, he only saw one thing. Kiba, falling to the ground. Kiba. Dead.

Four needles were sticking from his neck, two from the front, two from the back. He caught his friend and laid the body down gently. Akamaru was whimpering.

The masked boy said something, but it didn't matter. Nothing really mattered anymore, except that his friend was dead and the one who had killed him was alive. He could feel something inside him, offering him power. The power to avenge Kiba. A part of him was saying that he shouldn't listen, that very bad things would happen if he used that power. But none of it mattered. He accepted.

It started as a slow buildup, feeling his strength gradually increasing along with his senses, as the pain drifted away. His enemy was still talking. "Shut up," he ordered. A deep growling sound started to fill the air. It wasn't coming from Akamaru, though. No, the dog was doing nothing but making little terrified whimpers.

He wondered just what there could possibly be to be so scared of. Everything was perfect. Whatever this power was running through him now it just felt soo gooood...

Then he saw Kiba again, laying there, no breathing, no heartbeat. He could hear his own loud and clear, and Akamaru's, and the hunter nin's, and Sasuke-teme's (apparently the bastard had gone against orders, wanting to join in the fun0, and everyone else's on the bridge. Strange how they were all so fearful, faster than normal. He could even smell the fear. It smelled nice.

Naruto looked at the masked boy again, and smelled the fear scent from him increase. Good. **"I'll kill you!"** he roared, forcing the remaining senbon from his body with chakra as he did so. Though he really wasn't all that angry anymore. No, he just wanted the boy to be terrified and hopeless when he killed him. Instinct told the blonde that it would make the kill that much sweeter. So he'd play with him for a bit, make him think he was full of rage and hate, because those destructive emotions usually led to more fear in humans.

The boy began to move about, leaping from mirror to mirror, throwing those little needles at him. Naruto just released a small amount of chakra, stopping all the weapons before they could reach him. The boy's fear scent became stronger, and he tried again, more desperate this time.

He let the needles hit him this time, allowing them to sink through the skin and a bit into the underlying muscle, hunching over. A slightly larger blast of chakra along with a roar as he threw himself up straight, arms to the sides, and the needles were violently ejected from his body, ramming into the mirrors causing small cracks to form in the ice.

Naruto shifted onto all fours, crouching down deeply and deepening his growl so as to seem more frightening, and because it just felt right somehow. The Hyoton user attacked again, in a full panic now, trying for a direct physical attack this time.

The blonde had a few choices. He could wait for the attack to hit him, as something that weak might as well have been no more than a slight breeze. He could block the attack. He could hit the boy first. Or he could dodge. Naruto picked the last option, as he had gotten tired of staying still or such a long time. So he pushed off the ground with his right foot and hand, just hard enough to tear up the concrete immediately surrounding him, sending his body spinning away to the side in what his prey must have seen as little more than a blur.

When he landed, his prey was just starting to run back to one of his mirrors. He followed after, not too fast though, as he wanted to prolong the chase. He timed it to catch the prey by its ankle just as it slipped into the mirror, gripping with his clawed hand (when did that happen?) hard enough to crush the bone to dust. As he ripped the prey away, Naruto put his other fist through the ice, showing just how fragile its supposed defense was when it shattered into millions of tiny pieces.

The blonde switched his grip to his prey's wrist, forcing it to face him as he sent his fist towards the mask. He wanted that thing gone, so he could see the terror and despair in its eyes as he took its life. It flew through another of its mirrors, hit the ground, and rolled several yards. With the loss of concentration, the remaining ice mirrors began to crumble.

Now for one last bit of intimidation. He stared at the prey as it got to its feet, his glowing red eyes and a bit of killing intent making its fear smell shoot to new heights. That stupid mask was starting to crack and crumble.

Despite everything, the prey was still making its way into a standing posture. That took some determination, especially with its body in that condition, and that was something Naruto could respect, even in an insignificant bit of nothing. So he'd reward the prey by showing it just what it was truly up against as it died. For this final blow, he would hold nothing back. He ran forward, slowly, giing the mask time to fall off. As he got closer, he pulled back his fist, filling it with chakra. The punch would obliterate the prey's head, as well as most of its upper body.

Then Naruto caught sight of its face.

He was a friend.

Naruto didn't kill friends. He didn't kill anyone if there was a better way. What the hell was he doing?

No! He needed to feel the sweet blood! The thrill of the destruction!

Never mind what he was dong, what was he _thinking?_

He was experiencing the joy of fear and of the kill! Nothing would stop him!

Kyuubi! "_Get back to your corner of my mind, you bastard kitsune!_"

"**Very well, boy. But I have given you a taste of My power. I can be patient."**

Naruto felt that glorious power withdrawing all at once. It took every bit of willpower he had to both stay standing and stop his fist, only millimeters from the older boy's face.

"Haku?" The two friends were alone, cut off from everyone else by the new layer of natural mist that had rolled over the bridge during the battle.

"I did tell you I thought we would meet again somewhere, Naruto-kun. Why did you stop?" The brown-eyed boy's voice was sad as he spoke.

"I don't kill friends. Haku, why?" he asked.

"I already told you. Zabuza-sama's dream is my dream. I could not betray that, even for a friend."

Naruto gave him a serious look. "Haku, I know he's still alive. When i was... like that... I could hear his heartbeat. It was really slow and weak, but you didn't kill him. You're too good for that. I want to know why someone like you is with a monster like Zabuza."

Hearing the earnestness in his voice, the older boy told him everything. About his parents, and his bloodline, and how Zabuza had saved him. It was the saddest tale the boy had ever heard.

"But can't you see that Zabuza's just using you? He doesn't care about you as a person at all! Just about your bloodline limit!" he argued heatedly. Like hell was he going to sit back and watch while a friend gave his life for nothing!

"I know," Haku answered somberly, "and I don't care. There is no one for me but Zabuza-sama. I have failed him as a tool now and have nothing left. Please kill me."

Naruto would sooner give the Kyuubi another chance to take control. "No way! Just because he doesn't care about you doesn't mean I don't! When I asked you to be my friend, I meant it! And I know you meant it when you agreed! So I'm asking you as a friend to find some reason, any reason, to keep going."

Haku's sadness became even more pronounced. "Naruto-kun, you don't understand. I love him. Though I know he will never return my feelings, it is enough to simply be by his side. Being parted from Zabuza-sama would be worse than death."

For once, the young ninja found himself unable to respond. He'd never experienced the kind of love his friend was talking about, so there wasn't anything he could say.

"I ask you again, as a friend, please kill me."

"No. I already told you I will not kill a friend."

The older boy's big, brown eyes were crying. "Then please promise me that you will do what you can to help Zabuza-sama."

Naruto knew the man was a monster. But this wasn't for him. "I promise."

Haku gave him a small, sad smile. "Thank you, Uzumaki Naruto. I am sure you will be a great Hokage one day." He found himself unable to do anything but watch as the friend he had made just yesterday took a senbon and brought it slowly to his own throat.

Then the Hyoton user froze, and his eyes widened. Instinct told Naruto what was going on and spurred him into action at the same moment as the older boy. "Haku, NO!"

He ran after him, but just like during the fight, Haku was too fast. Sprinting into the mist, he found Asuma-sensei and Kakashi-sensei both standing on either side of a horribly sliced up Zabuza, his arms clearly useless. Behind them all was a crowd of thugs, samurai, and mercenaries, a short, fat, grey-haired man at the head. And between the crowd and the missing-nin was Haku, a crossbow bolt in his heart.

"Gato, what is the meaning of this?" the Demon of the Mist growled out. By his tone, he obviously meant the betrayal, not the death of Haku.

The short man answered him as the thug next to him reloaded his crossbow. "Oh, it's simple. I never let go of money I don't have to. Now that you ninja are all tired from fighting each other, these guys here can kill all of you, and the bridge builder! And they cost less than you did, too!" Had it been any other situation, Naruto would have laughed at the businessman's stupidity. He could've taken care of that mob of useless idiots all by himself, had he trusted himself to do so right now. But with his emotions running wild and the Kyubi's attempted takeover fresh in his mind, he didn't.

"Hatake, Sarutobi, it looks as though our fight is over," Zabuza said to the two jonin he had just been trying to kill.

Gato finally noticed the dead body of Haku, now crumpled up on the bridge. "I owed that one for breaking my arm. Too bad I won't ever get to pay the whore back as much as I had wanted"

The missing-nin glanced down at the dead boy. "It seems Haku proved to be a good tool in the end after all, saving my life like that. I chose well."

And at that, Naruto could no longer hold himself back. He ran over to look Zabuza in the face. "Is that all you think of him as? A tool? Haku gave his life for you!" The blonde genin was interrupted by the idiot behind him trying to shoot him in the back. Reaching behind him, he snatched the bolt out of midair and crushed it into splinters. A quick, hard glare behind him kept the mob from trying anything else. He continued as though none of that had happened. "Everything he was, everything he did, was for you! Even his dreams! He loved you!" Naruto found himself crying, but that was okay. The only one he had promised not to cry for was himself.

"Kid... That's enough..." That was when he noticed Zabuza was crying as well. "He told me you were too kind to be a shinobi; I see what he meant. Haku was like that, too, caring about everyone else too much for his own good. Gimme a kunai." He made the request while using sharp teeth to tear through the bandages around his mouth. His intentions were clear.

"Sure," Naruto said, tossing one of the knives lazily towards the jonin's mouth. "But I promised Haku I'd try and help you. I'm not gonna let you do this alone in your condition."

The Demon of the Mist grunted, speaking around the weapon between his teeth. "Fine, but no killing. I don't want you turning out like I did."

The blonde looked at his bearded sensei, seeing the look of approval in his dark eyes. The man understood that he needed this. "Asuma-sensei, Kba might need medical attention, Haku put him in a false death state. And once we're done here, I'm gonna need to talk to you about..." he let the rest of the sentence trail off. The mist was starting to clear, and he could see the other genin and Tazuna standing a little ways away, all looking in their direction.

Zabuza ran into the crowd, chasing after the retreating Gato, who was already waddling away through his sea of goons, with Naruto right alongside him, fending off any thugs the man didn't slash the throat of and blocking swords, spears, and other pointed things from all directions. The bastard with the crossbow had been the first to die. It really wasn't difficult for the blonde, as the mob was slow, sloppy and weak, plus he was concentrated solely on defense. After what seemed like minutes, they had gotten through to the other side, where the fat businessman was trying to run towards a ladder leading down to a motorboat. The Demon of the Mist caught up with him and sliced his head off. The two ninjas' combined glare had the thugs tripping over themselves to let them back through.

When they got back to the others, Naruto took a roll of bandages from his pack and began treating the man's more serious wounds to the best of his ability.

"Kid, why are you doing all this?"

The blue-eyed boy gave him a stern look. "I told you. I promised Haku. I'm doing this for him, not you. Someone who would butcher a hundred children isn't the kind of person I'd ever want to help."

More silence.

"So it's over then?" Sakura asked. She and the others had wandered in at some point, and Asuma-sensei had gone to Kiba.

The grey-haired jonin gave one of those weird eye smiles. "Yeah, it's over. Sasuke, are you all right?"

The bastard's eyes were closed tightly and he was rubbing his fists into them. "I'm fine, Kakashi. When that... feeling came over everything, my eyes started to burn, but they're getting better."

"Let me see," the man ordered. He peered into the Uchiha-teme's eyes. "Well, Sasuke, it seems you've awakened your Sharingan. Good work." The air of smugness and arrogance around the jerk rose to new heights.

"Hey, hey, hey! Aren't you forgetting about us?" The mob they had all but forgotten about had apparently already forgotten the complete thrashing they had just taken from a small boy and an injured man. "You guys killed our meal ticket! So now we're gonna go pillage this town instead!" How had Gato managed to find people that stupid? By everyone else's expressions, they were all clearly thinking along the same lines.

None of the ninja actually had to do anything right then, though, because a crossbow bolt struck the bridge directly in front of the mob. "Anyone who tries to attack this country... will have to face the people of this country!" The one who had spoken, and also fired the crossbow, was none other than...

"Inari!" Naruto shouted in joy, smiling, turning to face the young boy and the large crowd he had brought with him, all standing at the far end of the bridge.

"Naruto-niichan, we came to help!" The child who had so recently been angry and sad was smiling as well.

The bandits didn't seem quite so confident anymore as their self-appointed leader spoke up again. "So what? There's still more of us! We'll just go through all of you!"

The orange clad ninja smirked. It was numbers they wanted?

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"**

Over a thousand clones now covered the bridge, giving their hardest glare at the mob. They turned tail and ran, trampling and climbing over each other in their rush to get back to the boats.

A few minutes later, the only people left were the ninja and Tazuna. Kiba had just woken up.

"Hey, welcome back," Ino said to him, "How're you feeling?"

"Ugh... Pain. What happened? I thought I'd be dead," the Inuzuka groaned out.

Naruto helped him to his feet. "It's all done. Haku, the masked boy, he was... too kind to kill you. He committed suicide protecting Zabuza." Because that was what had happened. The boy could have easily caught the crossbow bolt, or deflected it, or something, but chose to let it hit his heart. "Gato showed up with a bunch of thugs and betrayed them, so he switched sides and cut off the bastard's head."

He felt something cold and wet land softly on his forehead. It was snowing.

"What super strange weather for this time of year." Tazuna commented.

Naruto stared sadly at the body of his dead friend. "He told me that it snowed a lot... where he grew up."

They all joined him in silent mourning over Haku. After a while, Zabuza gently picked up the boy's body and led the way off the bridge.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A lot had happened, Asuma mused, in the two weeks since the battle on the bridge. On the second day, Naruto and Zabuza had gone off alone to bury Haku. The location of the grave was something thy had kept a secret even from the others to remove any chance of the boy's resting place being desecrated to get at his bloodline limit. When they came back, both seemed different somehow, but the blue-eyed boy refused to tell him about whatever they had donne or talked about, just sayig that he had come to a decision about how he would live as a ninja. The former Demon of the Mist had decided to remain in Wave and train a small ninja force there for self-defense purposes. Inari had been the first to sign up.

The bearded jonin had also held private conversations with both of his blonde students. Naruto had wanted to talk about what had happened with the Kyuubi, and had told the man everything: how he had lost himself and accepted the fox's power, the way the power had changed him, both physically and mentally, the feelings and sensations that had come with it, how seeing Haku's face had brought him back, and the kitsune's words to him. Asuma suggested that, when they return to Konoha, he learn some meditation exercises to help him get in contact with the demon. The boy had protested at first, saying he wanted nothing to do with the beast, until he explained that knowing it better would likely make it easier to resist.

The talk he had had with Ino, though, had been on an entirely unexpected matter. She had told him about the way Sasuke had dealt with the second Demon Brother. For someone as young as the Uchiha to have killed in cold blood like that... It was a bad sign. He had told Kakashi, and the lazy man had promised to talk with his student, but nothing more had come of it.

As a matter of fact, team ten as a whole had been separating themselves from the others as much as they could, even the recovering Shino. And the brooding Uchiha was distancing himself from everyone, training alone with his new Sharingan.

For training his own team, Asuma had decided that they were at a level where he could attempt to teach them ninjutsu, so he had tested their elemental affinities. Kiba, interestingly enough had turned out to have a lightning affinity. That was strange because most Inuzuka were earth types. And the other two had been even more surprising. Ino had the contrasting affinities of water and fire, both in just about equal amounts. It was something the jonin had never even heard of before outside of a bloodline limit to have contrasting affinities like that, and no known ninja had ever had those two elements at once before. Naruto had also ended up with two affinities. His primary, luckily enough, was wind, something Asuma was better at than anyone else in Konoha. The boy had earth as a secondary, though, the one element the Hokage's son couldn't use to save his life. He started all three on nature manipulation right away, hopefully they would be good enough by the time the Chnin Exams came around to have learned a jutsu or two. And the good side of all this for him was that he really didn't have to do much during nature manipulation training, so he could spend time playing Shogi with Tazuna, who turned out to be quite a good opponent.

With the driving force behind it now dead, the Gato Corporation fell apart, most of the money going directly to the small, previously poor Wave Country. The first thing they did was to send the equivalent pay to Konoha for two A-rank missions.

At the end of the two weeks, though, the bridge was completed, and Shino had recovered enough to travel. The two Konoha teams had left then, sent on their way with warm goodbyes from Zabuza (well, not so warm from him,but it was a goodbye), Tazuna, Tsunami (who had stopped to wish Naruto good luck becoming Hokage; he hadn't realized the two had been talking that much), Inari (who had made his "niisan" promise to come visit), and all the people of Wave. As the all walked away, Asuma could hear the people debating on what to name the bridge. He channeled some chakra to his ears so as to be sure he didn't miss the result. It was a good choice, too, as he was the only one from Konoha to hear Tazuna's unanimously agreed upon suggestion of the Great Naruto Bridge, and the reasoning behind it.

He looked at the short blonde walking along happily in front of him, engaged in yet another argument with Ino. Yes, someday Naruto's name would indeed be known and respected throughout the world. He felt sure of it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

The idea for the opening scene of this chapter was hard to come up with. I didn't want to jump straight into the action, nor did I want the pre-fight part to stretch out too long. Just like in the last chapter with Kiba and Sakura, I decided to try something that was unique but still made sense in terms of the characters' personalities and situations. Naruto and Tsunami were, for all intents and purposes, alone together, so I realized they could interact quite easily. From there, things were pretty straightforward as to just what they'd talk about, since Naruto, lacking any sort of mother figure, would instantly attach to her caring nature and open up to her.

And from there, I cut right to the fight. I decided to focus on what I thought would be the most interesting aspect of the battle, namely, the part that didn't happen in canon at all. It was also my first chance to show how Ino acts in a serious combat situation. Other than that, things were mostly canon, with a few differences.

Like the bit where Naruto uses the Kyuubi's chakra, and the degree to which it affects him. Pretty much, that's all foreshadowing and setup for the revelations coming in the next chapter.

Quick side note, anyone who can correctly place the quote from an outside source found in this chapter gets a medal. As a hint, I'll say that it's a line spoken by a minor character.

One thing I'm trying to do consistently in this story is to take the less-used course of events whenever possible. Zabuza living and Haku dying is something rarely done, and it still allows Naruto to experience the loss he needs to grow and develop his nindo.

And once more, I use Asuma's viewpoint as a method of summarizing things and tying everything up nicely before the end of the arc.


	13. meeting the Kyuubi

**chapter 13**

**meeting the Kyuubi**

"We're going to be doing something a bit different today," Kurenai-sensei told the combined teams seven and eight. "The other night, Asuma informed me that you, Naruto, need to learn some meditation exercises. Is that correct?"

He looked up at the red-eyed jonin, his answer more subdued than it would have normally been as he thought of just why he needed to learn the exercises. "Yeah, right."

"Since the art of meditation can be useful for all sorts of things," she continued, "I decided that it would be best to teach it to all of you. Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji, I have already taught you the basic idea behind meditation in the past. Care to explain it to your friends?" Somehow, the request had more of the feel of a command.

The... big-boned... genin spoke up after a moment, as one of his teammates was busy watching the clouds while the other couldn't seem to find her voice, instead making a few strange stuttering sounds before giving up. "Well, y'see -munch- the point of most meditation -munch- is to sorta clear your mind -munch- and focus only on yourself -munch- so you can sense your own body and chakra -munch- in a clearer way."

The woman cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Shikamaru? Would you kindly continue?"

He yawned. "Troublesome. When trying to meditate, you have to block all your senses from your mind and sorta relax, but you're not allowed to fall asleep."

Apparently, that was all he was going to say.

"U-um," the Hyuuga girl picked up, "O-once you've reached a m-meditative state, you will f-feel yourself d-drifting away from y-your body. It-it's hard to e-explain in words." For some reason, Hinata's face was really red; Naruto wondered if she might have had a fever. The weird girl seemed to get sick an awful lot, but she still made it to her team training every day. That was pretty admirable if you asked him.

"Correct. Thank you, you three." the red-eyed woman praised. "The meditation technique I will be teaching you today, though, is different from regular meditation. It is a technique to help one explore their own mind and should not be attempted by yourselves until you are very skilled, as the mind is a very delicate thing." On the mention of entering the mind, the blue-eyed boy noticed Ino perk up, as Shikamaru shot a brief glance in his direction, probably wondering just what he needed to get inside his own head for

"The purpose of the exercise we are about to do is to get you into the state from which you can move into your mind. When it succeeds, you will know instantly, and you should be able to spend what feels like as much time as you want inside. Let us begin.

"Now," she began giving them instructions, which they all followed as she spoke, "I want all of you to lay down on your backs in the grass. Close your eyes and listen to nothing but the sound of my voice and the steady rhythm of your breathing. Feel your chakra as it flows through your body, and relax."

Naruto was having trouble following that last bit. It was, after all, pretty hard to relax when you're preparing to meet the most powerful demon in existence. "Let all the tension flow out of your body. Feel the comforting warmth of the sun, but do not pay attention to it. It is simply there, part of the world around you..." She went on like this for what seemed like forever, but the young genin just couldn't get himself to relax, damn it!

"It should feel as though you are separate from your body, yet more a part of yourself. Sensations should feel heightened, but distant. Once you reach this state, simply imagine yourself being inside your own mind. Do not try and give form to your mind, that will come on its own. Just imagine yourself being there. I will now cast a genjutsu to help you along. Let the chakra wash over you and pass through you."

Just as she had said, Naruto could feel the wave of chakra move through him. He tried to picture himself inside his own mind, as Kurenai-sensei had instructed, but mental images of giant nine-tailed kitsune kept on interrupting his thoughts.

For about thirty seconds this went on. Thirty slow, agonizing seconds of complete silence, during which the boy knew without a doubt he had completely failed this first attempt. Then he heard Ino, Hinata, and Chouji simultaneously let out quiet sighs of amazement and joy.

"You can all open your eyes now," the jonin kunoichi told them. "I see it worked for the three of you." She gestured to the ones who had sighed. "For the others, let's figure out where you went wrong. Shikamaru," the woman called out to her lazy student, telling him to go first.

He didn't answer.

"Shikamaru?"

Still nothing.

The Nara boy had fallen asleep. His sensei glared at him. "Shikamaru, wake up."

Nothing.

"May I do it?" Naruto asked. He didn't bother waiting for an answer, though, instead making a single kage bunshin and having it henge into a bucket. There was a stream about a fifteen second sprint away with some very cold water.

Half a minute later, the lazy genin woke up, wet and shivering. He glared at the smirking blonde, muttered "troublesome," and stalked off.

Kurenai-sensei continued as though it hadn't happened. "Now we know why it didn't work for him. Kiba, where do you think your problem was?"

The Inuzuka stopped to think for a moment before answering, slowly. "It... it has to do with the way Akamaru and I are bonded. I can't really get that feeling of just myself that we needed because he's always there too."

The woman gazed at the boy and his companion. "If you wish to attempt this exercise again, there is a jutsu I can use on you that will temporarily weaken the bond between the two of you, though it can only work with your cooperation. I will understand if you do not wish to do this, as that kind of bo-"

"No, I'll give it a shot," Kiba interrupted.

She nodded. "Very well. And Naruto, why do you thi-"

The blonde boy also cut her off mid-sentence. "I couldn't relax."

The red-eyed jonin pursed her lips. "I cans see why, given just what you are trying to achieve by doing this. Hmm..." She paused for a moment, considering. "Hinata, since you have already succeeded in this exercise, I would like you to help Naruto to become relaxed as he meditates. Doing so should also help you to work on some issues as well."

The boy saw everyone else except for Kurenai-sensei go into a state of shock, even Shikamaru, who had just returned wearing dry clothes while the pale-eyed girl herself turned beet red. Whatever was making her sick must have been something really strong, that came and went suddenly, for her to be fine one moment and sweating and red-faced the next.

It took her some minutes before the fever went down and she started to speak semi-clearly again. "U-umm, N-Naruto-kun..."

"Go on, Hinata," the woman encouraged her.

"U-um... I-I'm g-g-going to g-g-give y-you a m-m-m-massage, s-so I-I'll n-n-need you to t-t-take o-off yo-your sh-sh-sh-shirt." Wow, the weird girl stuttered a lot.

"Okay," he responded, unzipping his jacket and pulling his T-shirt up over his head. At the same time, though, Hinata's fever came back, worse than ever. "Oi, Hinata, you sure you'll be okay? That looks like a nasty fever..." Just to check, he put his hand to her forehead. "You're burning up! We need to get you to the hospital right away! Climb up on my back, and I'll carry you!"

Then she fainted, and Naruto really started to panic. What if she died from whatever she had? It was worse today than he'd ever seen it before! What if-

A strong grip on his shoulder forced the boy to stop. Kurenai-sensei looked down at him kindly. "She'll be fine, Naruto. Just give her a minute."

It didn't really make any sense to him. People didn't normally recover from high fevers and fainting in only a minute, but the jonin's restraining hand kept him from doing anything. As they waited, he could hear the laziest genin in Konoha mutter "Troublesome," and Ino and Kiba let out a sigh in unison. It was the sigh they reserved for whenever he did something really, really stupid, but this time Naruto just couldn't figure out what it was. He'd have to ask them later.

Sure enough, though, Hinata did wake up after about a minute. The fever was stll there, but it didn't seem quite as bad as it had been.

"I-'m s-sorry," she apologized.

She sure did that a lot. "Sorry for what?" he asked. "You can't help it when you get sick. You really don't need to apologize so much, Hinata."

"Ah, s-sor-" She cut herself off in mid word. "Th-this time, when Kurenai-sensei is t-talking to y-you, I w-will be sending my ch-chakra into you slowly to h-help you re-relax."

Naruto grinned at her. "Sounds good. Thanks, Hinata!"

Kurenai-sensei turned to Kiba. "Are you sure you want to do this? It will be quite painful."

His teammate and Akamaru were resolved. "I want to know what my mind is like. Besides, we can handle a little pain, right, Akamaru?"

"Arf!"

"Very well." She formed the handseals so quickly the blue-eyed boy could make out nothing more than a blur.

"**Shinkon Rikaku no Jutsu"** (soul separation jutsu)

Both the Inuzuka and his companion let out an agonizing howl of pain and anguish for almost five seconds straight. The two blondes of team seven were at their side in an instant. Akamaru was panting heavily, and Kiba was slumped over, a hand clutched to his heart.

"Kiba! How're you feeling?" Naruto asked in concern.

"Ugh... Hell... Like someone... ripped out my heart..." he gasped out.

Kurenai-sensei had a serious look on her face. "I did try to warn you. Do you still feel up to doing this?"

"Yeah, just... Just gimme a minute..."

"Take as much time as you need," she comforted him. "The effects of the jutsu will last for two hours."

It was actually closer to five minutes before the dog boy was ready. "All right, let us try this again. Shikamaru, no falling asleep. Chouji, Ino, feel free to join in if you wish."

This time, Hinata's gentle touch and the soothing flow of her chakra through his coils made Naruto's body relax. Her soft hands ran across his stomach, sending out slow pulses of chakra. It felt nice.

It still didn't work, though. Despite feeling more relaxed than he ever had before in his life, the demon container never found himself slipping into that state of mind Kurenai-sensei wanted them to reach, where everything was sharp yet not wholly there, where he was part of himself yet not. Strange, but now that he thought about it, it sounded like a familiar sensation...

The other four let out sighs of contentment, signaling the end of the exercise and that they had all gotten it to work. Why did everything have to be so hard for him? Oh well, the blonde was used to it by now.

"What didn't work this time, Naruto?" She wasn't belittling him, like so many of the Academy teachers used to. No, Kurenai-sensei had asked the question in a supportive voice. She wanted to know where the problem was so they could fix it before trying again.

"It's that 'there but not there' state we have to get to. I couldn't. But..." he thought for a moment. "The way you describe it, it sounds a lot like how I'll sometimes feel during a really intense spar, when I sorta let go and start running on instinct, y'know? So I was thinking, if I could maybe be relaxed and fighting at the same time somehow, then it might work, right?"

The red-eyed jonin paused to consider this. "Since so many of the usual rules about how people function do not seem to apply to you, Naruto, it just might. We'll give it a shot, but this will likely be difficult. Get ready for battle and stay that way as Hinata makes your body relax, then come at me with everything you have while keeping yourself in that relaxed state. I should tell you, however, that I don not think anyone has ever tried anything like this before, so I have no idea how it will turn out."

The small genin slipped into battle mode, senses sharpening and taking in every detail of his surroundings, while his full attention was on Kurenai-sensei. He could feel Hinata's hands running across him again, forcing his body into a relaxed state.

Trying to hold both the combat state and the relaxed state at once was taking every bit of concentration he had. Naruto really wasn't sure how long he could keep it up...

Then his opponent rushed at him, and there was no time for thinking. He crouched under a kick at his head, lashing out with a quick right fist at the same time. But there was suddenly another kick heading for his feet, so he leapt straight backwards, flipping around in midair and doing a handspring back towards his opponent, feet first. The woman twirled to the side, and he could hear a punch heading for his ribs. He grabbed the incoming fist with his closer hand and used it as support to throw himself just over his opponent's head, aiming a kick at her back as he came down, while the other foot aligned itself with the ground to prepare for landing. She bent forward to avoid it, and the fight continued.

Naruto could feel it. A sort of double state of being, where he was relaxed and tense at the same time, completely calm, and yet feeling everything around him with perfect clarity. This was it. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be inside his own mind...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A sewer. His mind was a sewer. That was just great; he had a stinky, smelly, wet, dark sewer for a mind. Right, now he had come here to meet the fox, so the best way to find the bastard would be to follow that dim red glow coupled with a distant feeling of tremendous power he could feel from up ahead. He walked, wading through the calf-deep water for what felt like both an eternity and no time at all. Then he found himself in front of a gigantic cage, without ever having actually gotten there. He was just there. The mind was weird like that, the boy guessed. The cage was gargantuan. Gargantuan, he liked that word, so rare that you had a chance to use it in a sentence. He'd learned it a couple weeks back, while still in Wave. And right in the middle of the cage was a slip of paper, slightly larger than his hand, with the kanji for "seal" on it.

Behind the cage was the Kyuubi. **"So, you finally come before Me,"** it boomed. Naruto looked up at the great beast. The Kyuubi no Kitsune, mightiest of the Bijuu, a being of near-infinite power and destruction, its blood-red eyes, each much larger than he was, concentrating their gaze in him, its light orange fur stretched over powerful muscles, and its nine tails waving about behind it, extending into the darkness. The amount of raw power he could feel coming off of it was unreal.

"Aren't you supposed to be bigger?" he asked. Not that the beast was small by any means, just that the stories described it as over a hundred meters tall, while the demon before him was no more than fifty.

It laughed cruelly. **"Heh he heh. You've got guts, boy. I am limiting My power because the full extent of My greatness would probably break your puny little mind. Actually, that wouldn't be so bad..."**

Without any further warning, there was a bright flash of white light and the feeling of power increased to such a level that Naruto was forced to his knees.

No way was he gonna stay like that, though. Slowly, painfully, he got his feet under him once more and began rising to a stand, under what felt like several tons of pressure trying to force him down. He brought his head up to look at the fox once more and would have gasped, had part of his mind not realized that was probably exactly the kind of reaction the great kitsune wanted.

Great was indeed a fitting word. The Kyuubi was so large that it momentarily threw off his depth perception, not just a hundred meters tall, but a full two hundred fifty. It was nearly a mile away, the slip of paper so far that his excellent vision couldn't make it out as more than a tiny dot. The cage had expanded too, of course, each bar probably at least twice as thick around as the trees in Konoha. Every aspect of the fox seemed to have been intensified in some way. The huge blood-red eyes were glowing, giving off a light of their own Even from this distance, he knew that the claws and teeth would be sharp enough to easily slice through chakra-hardened steel without applying any real pressure. The kitsune's frame had become even more muscular, every slight movement of its body accompanied by a shift in the huge, powerful, toned muscle. And the nine tails, now clearly visible, as if light was now radiating from the fox itself, moved about gracefully in the air behind it, a symbol of its absolute power.

"**So you are still sane and even able to stand? Impressive. Very few have a mind that strong. But your strength will make it all the more satisfying when I do break you."** Its voice was even louder than before, and Naruto's whole body vibrated with the sound.

"I will NEVER give in to you!" he shouted.

The Kyuubi laughed again, a low, dark chuckle that filled the air throughout the impossibly large chamber. **"Your spirit is admirable, but pointless. As I told you before, you have already had a taste of My power. It is only a matter of time until you come back for more. And then your body will be Mine."**

"Like hell. I'd rather die." Some part of him knew that the fox would be able to hear him clearly, even over this distance.

"**You will fall to Me, Naruto, for My power is greater than all."**

The blonde smirked. "Oh really? Then how'd you end up stuck in me?" he goaded. Of course, purposefully attempting to anger a demon so old and powerful that no one knows just how old and powerful it is isn't usually the smartest idea. And it makes you feel like an idiot when it doesn't work.

The kitsune smiled. And there was something about the way that it smiled that made Naruto feel uneasy. Like it knew something he didn't. **"You really want to know? I suppose I can tell you, as it is far too late now for anything to stop Me.**

"**Several millennia ago, I realized that if I stayed in My original body, I would never reach the peak of My power. The body was imperfect, tiny flaws running throughout it. So I set things in motion to make for myself a new body. The perfect body.**

"**Though it was not My preferred method, I worked silently, unnoticed, manipulating **_**this **_**human to fall in love with **_**that **_**one so they would have a child with **_**these **_**traits, thousands of times over, in all parts of the world, and waited until a set came within five generations of the end result. Then I laid a trap, to be sure none would be able to realize My purpose in time to do anything to prevent it. I implanted a bit of My power into the eyes of a human. When the time came, he and his descendants would take the blame for My actions.**

"**Finally, a little over twelve years ago, you were conceived. My perfect body, or as close to it as needed. A few last manipulations, implanting the idea for the jutsu used to seal Me into the head of your Yondaime Hokage, making the weakling I gave My power to, Madara Uchiha, believe he could control Me, then I waited.**

"**I waited until the night of your birth, before allowing Madara to 'send' Me to destroy your village. Had I truly wanted it destroyed, the place you call home would have been nothing more than a hole in the ground, but I didn't. I simply caused enough destruction and mayhem, having quite a fun time as I did so, that your Hokage was forced to stop Me, using the jutsu I had given him to seal Me into the only newborn that night. You.**

"**You wanted to know, Naruto, how I was sealed into you despite My power? I did it on purpose. You see, there was one flaw I made sure to include when placing the idea for the jutsu into your leader's mind. For the briefest instant after the sealing, I had full access to your body, and that was when I made the final changes.**

"**You were still human at that time, genetically superior to the greatest extent possible, but still human. I used my instant to improve you, make you better, make you more, form you into the perfect vessel for My power. I improved every aspect of your physical being, giving you the potential to be stronger, faster, smarter, and millions of other changes you would not be able to comprehend. Your senses, your memory, your healing rate, your lack of need for sleep, your near-constant excess of energy, all these and more come from what I did that night. Your body was built to function with Me. That is why you found My power to be so irresistible when you used it."**

Naruto stood there for what felt like hours, going over everything he had just learned from the Kyuubi. As much as he wanted to believe it was a lie, the fox's words made too much damn sense to be anything but the truth. He really was a monster then... The villagers had been right all along...

"_No!_"

He searched around for the voice. It had sounded... familiar, like a memory from a dream. There was no one, though. No one but himself and a now angry Kyuubi. Angry because he had been crumbling falling apart, the last thing between it and its final goal nearly gone, when that single word had floated in. That one word, spoken in a voice so full of confidence, belief, and hope that he couldn't help but agree.

He wasn't a monster! He was Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha! No matter wether his body was technically human or not, his mind was! And that was what mattered. To think that he had almost forgotten that about himself again, only to be reminded at the last possible moment, just like Iruka-sensei had done for him that night in the forest.

And now Naruto was angry too. Angry at himself for nearly falling into the kitsune's trap, and even more angry at the fox itself for the way it had played God with him and his ancestors. He had previously been considering asking the Kyuubi about his parents but changed his mind. It probably wouldn't have told him, anyway.

"Nice try, furball, but it didn't work!" he jeered at the beast.

"**Leave."** it growled out, the low rumble more like a small earthquake than a sound. The fox's tone was one of warning and danger, the kind of voice that would have any sane person running as far away from it as possible.

Fortunately, Naruto wasn't quite sane, at least according to the psychowatchamacalit evaluation Asuma-sensei had made him do the day after they had gotten back. "Make me." He glared defiantly at the demon, piercing blue eyes looking into giant, glowing red ones, and braced himself physically and mentally for whatever the Kyuubi was about to do.

"**ROOOOAAAAARRRR!"**

The sound was deafening, and the sheer force it was delivered with forced all the water from the room in seconds. The small boy held firm. This was _his_ mind, and there was no _fucking_ way he was about to lose to the bastard that had destroyed his entire life! The Kyuubi launched an enormous mass of vile red chakra at him, larger even than the fox itself, filling the entire chamber. Naruto brought up his own bright blue chakra, in amounts far greater than anything he could have hoped to manage in his physical body, and wrapped it around himself in a dense, shining shield of light just before the wave hit. It felt like hours before the shaking and roaring stopped, and the kitsune's power output lowered from 'all-consuming' to 'mind-blowing.' He hadn't moved.

Naruto let his chakra shield fade away, smirked at the Kyuubi, and walked out, knowing he had won this round.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Not the least bit prepared for the sudden shift back to reality, the young ninja crashed into the ground, hard. It was at that point he remembered that he'd been in mid-jump when he'd entered his mind.

Kurenai-sensei turned to look at him. "It worked, then?"

"Yeah, it worked." He smiled, because even though there was all that stuff he had learned from the fox, and he knew his mind wasn't anywhere near done dealing with that, he had succeeded in getting into his own mind and in pissing off the most powerful being in existence and living to tell about it. The quiet in the back part of his conscious mind where the demon resided proved that it too knew he had come out on top in their first meeting.

"So, what was your mind like, Naruto?" his fellow blue-eyed blonde asked excitedly.

Kiba of course threw in his own bit. "Yeah, mine was really neat. It was like the forests around Konoha, but there were cats everywhere for me to chase, and every cat would run away and climb a different tree, and when I followed, I could relive some of my memories! So how about it?"

He made sure to face away from his friends and kept his voice sounding exactly the way he wanted it. "Secret," the demon container said, before turning back to them, a playful smirk on his features.

"Oh come on!" Ino shouted out, exasperated. "I'll tell you about mine," she enticed.

"Maybe some other day. Besides," he grinned at the team's kunoichi, "yours is probably a field of flowers, with some kunai here and there for your violent side."

The Yamanaka's mouth fell open. "H-how did you..."

"No way, I was right? Awesome!" He laughed at his unbelievable luck.

Then the girl's mouth closed up into a small smirk, not unlike the one he had just given the furball inside his head. "Gotchya."

"Damn it." He could stand up to the Kyuubi on Kitsune, but not Yamanaka Ino. Amazing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

This chapter is divided into two distinct halves. The first half is a bit more lighthearted, with a bit of oh-so-sweet Naru/Hina, along with the rest of the team 7/8 interaction. I'm sure there's a lot of reader who are upset that this isn't a Naru/Hina fic (and probably just about as many _happy_ it isn't). Personally, I love that pairing, and the ways they interact with each other, but it just wouldn't fit the tone I'm going for in this story.

I also try to put a bit of emphasis on Kiba in this first half, as I feel I neglected him in the last chapter. His bond with Akamaru (and that of all Inuzuka with their companions), in my story, is more than just friendship. There's actually a deep connection between their souls, to the point where they physically can't live apart.

The second half of the chapter is exposition time. Naruto finally meets up with the Kyuubi, and the fox reveals something I'd been planning since the moment I started this story. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen any author give the Kyuubi a legitimate reason to want to attack. 99% of the time, it's manipulated by someone, and the other 1% is because it's a being of destruction and wanted to destroy. I took a different approach, and it was fun finally being able to reveal all this stuff to my readers.

To finish off, the line "like a memory from a dream" is stolen. Naming the source gets you a cookie.


	14. together and apart

**chapter 14**

**together and apart**

The three genin and one ninja dog of team seven were waiting patiently for their sensei in the woods of training ground twenty three. "I wonder what he'll be teaching us today?" Kiba asked.

The shortest and loudest member of the team felt the need to make himself heard by everyone in a ten mile radius. "Maybe he'll show us some super-awesome ninjutsu!"

Ino removed her fingers from her ears. "Guys, you know he's just going to sit back and relax while we work on our nature manipulation training."

"Actually, you're both wrong," Asuma-sensei spoke up from right behind her, scaring the young kunoichi and both her teammates. "Today, we're going to work on your teamwork." They stared at him, surprised. "I know I've always said you three work well together, but that's no excuse to not train to become an even better-functioning unit, especially with the Chunin Exams less than a couple months away. I brought something with me that you'll fund helpful; let me go get it." He walked away, four pairs of eyes following him.

The bearded jonin came back carrying something really odd. Three... things, similar to harnesses but with parts extending to go around the legs and arms as well, were connected to each other in multiple by short chords of some kind of elastic material. The blue-eyed girl had a bad feeling about this. "You will be wearing this during training today, and likely several more times throughout the future. This piece of equipment will force each of you to constantly be aware of how the others are moving, and will also force you to move in sync with one another in order to get anything done. Now, help each other put it on."

So in other words, they were going to be literally stuck to each other. Fun. She could already think of at least a hundred ways this could go wrong, while tightening the straps around Kiba's arms. It would probably be hardest on Naruto, though, as not only was he both the physically strongest and heaviest of the three genin, he was also the most, um, enthusiastic, in his movements, something they'd have to make sure he toned down for the time being.

All in all, it took them nearly a full ten minutes to get completely strapped in to the harnesses and they were now standing in a triangle, facing away from each other.

"Good, now walk over here to where I'm standing," Asuma-sensei instructed them. In less than two steps, the three friends were a jumbled heap on the ground.

"Idiot! You were walking too fast!" the inuzuka shouted at the other boy.

"Me?" the blonde retaliated, "You're the one who wasn't stepping far enough!"

Seeing where this was going, Ino took drastic action and hit both males on the head. Hard. "Shut up! It's all of our faults, and arguing and shouting won't do anything but get us more tangled up. Now let's get back on out feet and try again." Now thoroughly cowed, the other two did as she ordered.

Somehow, after many more falls, the kunoichi had found herself in charge of the group, which was now making slow but steady progress towards their sensei. "Left... Right... Left... Right, almost there... Left, just two more steps... Righ-" _thud_.

"It wasn't me!" Naruto and Kiba shouted in unison, with Akamaru throwing in a bark of agreement from his location off to the side. Amazingly enough, the boys were correct this time. Ino had been concentrating so hard on making sure everything went smoothly that she'd tripped over a tree root. Talk about embarrassing.

Asuma-sensei had apparently decided to take pity on them. "I'll give you some advice: you need to work together equally, as one. Feel your teammates like they are a part of you, and know what they are doing at all times," he told them, while walking away so that the distance they had to travel would be the same.

Fifteen minutes later, and the genin of team seven were finally getting somewhere. The trick wasn't for them to all try and move the same way, but to be aware of how each of the others moved and adjust to suit it. The intended end result of both methods was the same, but one worked while the other didn't. They were now smiling with pride as they stood in front of their jonin sensei. Ino happened to be facing towards the man, so she alone could clearly make out the slightly evil smirk on his face. They weren't done yet.

"Good. Now," he put his hands into a seal she recognized from seeing Naruto using it multiple times a day, one kage bunshin appearing in front of each of her teammates, "defend!" What followed was perhaps the most frustrating two hours of the young kunoichi's life. The bearded jonin wasn't hitting hard enough to seriously hurt them, thankfully, but the blows did sting, and the constant overbalancing and falling wasn't helping any either. By the time he called stop, though, they were beginning to get the hang of it, using the tension in the chords to feel their friends' movements and, just like with the simpler walking, act based on that knowledge.

They still weren't done, though. "Now, let's go do some D-ranks."

"WHAT!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Attempting to jump had proved to be really painful, and running was just as impossible, so they'd been forced to settle for a light jog to the Hokage tower. Asuma-sensei told them they'd get better at it in later training sessions. Kiba was definitely not looking forward to those.

Now, though, team seven stood in front of the Hokage, ready to receive their missions for the day. The three genin were still in the ridiculous triple-harness.

The village leader was giving them a strange smirk, as though he was enjoying their pain and humiliation. "Hmm... I was going to have you catch Tora today, but I see that might not be the best idea." They heaved a collective sigh of relief. That devil cat was bad enough without any complications. "Instead, team seven, you are to pick up garbage in the swamp by training area thirty six, replace a broken receiver on one of the antennae at the southern weather monitoring station, and... hmm... Give a lecture to the second year Academy students at 2:30 on the importance of teamwork." Yeah, the smug old man was definitely enjoying this.

Naturally, Naruto wasn't going to stay silent. "Jiji, you'd better keep a careful watch on your laundry," he threatened. The boy's familiarity with the aged leader no longer surprised his teammates. Of course, the knucklehead would probably call anyone with grey hair "Jiji," but there was always something more affectionate about his relationship to the Sandaime. He'd tell them sometime, Kiba was sure.

"We accept," the leader's son answered. "Let's get going, you lot." And they followed him to the swamp. Yay.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ugh. Remind me to bring a change of clothes just in case we end up doing something in a swamp again," Ino said in disgust as the genin trudged away from training area thirty six. The smell had been horrible, and they'd managed to fall in twice, so it was sticking with them. Asuma-sensei hadn't let Naruto use his clones, either, nor would he allow Akamaru to help them. Just as Kiba had suspected, it hadn't been pleasant.

"Well if you wore something a bit more durable, like my jacket, you wouldn't end up ruining your first set." Great, refereeing yet another argument between the two blondes was exactly what he needed right now. Especially when they were tied together like this.

"That..." she paused, giving her teammate's orange jacket a disapproving glare, "_thing_... is the most ridiculous article of clothing I have ever seen in my life, and the pants are only slightly better."

"Oi! At least the clothes I pick out are practical!" It figured they'd go for the clothes. The two of them had had this argument so many times that the Inuzuka practically knew everything they would say by heart.

"Practical?" the kunoichi half-shouted, her face now in an expression of horrified disbelief. "How the hell is orange practical?"

"Like I said before, it's durable. It's loose and baggy, so I can move around easy, and you can't really guess my movements by muscle tension. And the color, besides being awesome, is great for practicing stealth. That's four things off the top of my head, now what about your outfit?" Okay, that last bit about the stealth was new. Damn him and his unpredictableness!

"My clothes, besides looking good, are specially designed for seduction purposes, something you would know nothing about, being a boy. But what do you mean orange helps with stealth?" Apparently, the team kunoichi was just as curious as he was.

"I know nothing about seduction? Did you just block out the memories of our last C-rank or something?" Indeed, on the last out-of-village mission they'd been on, Naruto had been the one, using his Oiroke no Jutsu, to lead their target into the trap they had set up.

"You consider that seduction?" Ino was raging now. "That was an affront and humiliation to the entire female gender, you idiot! You're just lucky the guy was such a huge pervert that he couldn't resist your impossibly large breasts! And would you please explain how orange clothes help with stealth?"

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that every single adult male in the whole world is a pervert. Even Jiji!" the short blonde stated.

But the Yamanaka had an answer to that one right away. "Not Asuma-sensei. He's only got eyes for Kurenai-sensei."

"He what? Seriously?" Kiba and Akamaru joined in on the "Naruto is stupid" glare this time. Somehow, the boy hadn't picked up on the painfully obvious relationship between the two jonin. Considering his complete ignorance of Hinata's feelings for himself, though, it really shouldn't have been that big of a surprise.

"I swear, you make no sense sometimes. You have no problem picking up on the littlest details, but you manage to miss the stuff right in front of your face! And are you going to answer about the stealth thing or not?"

The boy sounded confused for a moment. "Huh? Oh yeah, when I said my orange clothes were good for stealth. Well, when you're wearing black, you're harder to see, so you don't try as hard to stay out of sight, but in bright orange, you can't let anyone catch even a little glimpse of you, or its over. Something like that, anyway."

It figured the reason would be in Naruto-logic. He just hoped they'd stop this fight sooner rather than later.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

No such luck. "How many times do I have to tell you? The chrysanthemum is a very important flower, symbolizing-"

The other blonde cut her off, though. "I don't care if it symbolizes being the ruler of the world! It's still ugly, and the name is way too long and hard to spell!"

"Would you two cut it out, at least till we're done with this?" Kiba interjected. Climbing up a tall, slippery steel pole while harnessed together and carrying a hunk of metal that weighed more than twice as much as all of team seven combined was _not_ the time to be debating the value of different flowers, or anything at all for that matter. This right here was more of a workout than most of the stuff Asuma-sensei had them do, not to mention that one slip-up would lead to them going splat on the concrete roof of the weather station so far below. Even with Naruto's unnatural strength and Ino an Kiba channeling chakra to their muscles, the receiver dish they had to lug up was damn heavy.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, sorry Kiba."

They both really meant it. "Hey, no big deal. I just wanna concentrate on this so we don't fall, wreck the thingy, have to pay for a replacement, and end up with broken bones on top of it all." He thought about that for a moment. "At least me and Ino would anyway. You, Naruto, are just too damn lucky, having both extra-tough bones and a crazy healing rate."

"Heh," the boy scoffed. "Yeah, lucky. Right."

Okay, now that was just plain weird, even for him. "What d'you mean? Most ninja would go through hell for abilities like that."

His teammate gazed at him with indecipherable blue eyes. "Exactly."

The dog boy wanted to press further, but the look on Ino's face was telling him that would be a bad idea. "We're almost there," she said, returning their minds to the mission they were doing. "Just a few more yards." Indeed, they reached the top of the pole soon after and found there the damaged receiver they were supposed to replace.

"Great, anyone got an idea how the hell we're supposed to get this thing off?" Naruto asked. The damaged dish was really more like a destroyed dish. Something very hard must have hit it with a whole lot of force, because the thick metal plate was bent fairly neatly in half.

"They explained that before we started, remember?" the other blonde reminded them. "There's three bolts at the base that have to be removed, then the whole thing just lifts right off. They gave us new ones, but we're supposed to reuse the current bolts if we can."

"Thank goodness at least one of us listens during mission briefings," Kiba mumbled.

"Hey, I think I found 'em!" the orange-clad boy exclaimed. "But we're gonna need those replacements; these ones are too rusty!"

"Good work, Naruto!" Ino praised. "They should just twist right out of there, like giant screws or something."

He gave it a try, first with his hands, then banging on them with a kunai hilt, and finally attempting to slide the blade behind the heads of the bolts and jiggle it around a bit to loosen them. Nothing, "Damn it! They're not coming out like that."

The three genin hung there, clinging to the pole in silence for a moment. They all knew they couldn't stay up there forever, though.

"Any ideas, Naruto?" the Inuzuka asked, worried about what the answer might be.

"I've got one," he answered. "I figure that if the bolts are this rusted on the outside, they can't be in that good of condition on the inside, either. This broken dish has gotta come off anyway, so maybe if we all push up on it as hard as we can, it'll snap the rusted bolts apart."

Ino reacted first. "Wow, that's actually slightly sane. Okay, everyone stick your feet to the pole with chakra just below where the dish is attached. Both hands glued to the base of the dish the same way for maximum leverage, and we push on three. Ready?" Both boys nodded. "One... two... three!"

The rusted bolts must have been in seriously bad shape, because they broke right away. The damaged receiver shot up with enough force that it ripped from their chakra-glued hands, tearing off some skin in the process, and rose over the tip of the pole, before tumbling off and falling down to the roof far below. Naruto summed up al their thoughts. "Oops."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After that physically taxing mission, even Naruto had needed a moment to rest. Unfortunately, they didn't have long, because team seven had to be at the Academy in less than half an hour, ready to give a presentation on teamwork to the aspiring young ninja.

"So, what are we going to do for this?" Ino asked the other two as they made their way towards the Academy at a steady jog.

"Whaddaya mean 'what're we gonna do?' This is Konohamaru's class; all we'll need to say is that they need to be able to work together if they wanna grow into awesome ninja like us!" Okay, she should've expected something like that from the other blonde.

"Yeah, this'll be the easiest mission of the day!" Kiba agreed enthusiastically.

The kunoichi resisted the sudden urge to hit both her teammates on the head again. "Idiots. They may be young, but they're not stupid. And keep in mind that this is the next generation of Konoha ninja we're talking about here; the things they learn today are going to affect the rest of their entire lives."

Naruto's excited, happy look toned down a bit. "That sounded a lot like something Iruka-sensei might have said." He perked back up almost right away, grinning. "I say you do the talking!"

"Not all by myself I'm not!" the Yamanaka exclaimed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The presentation actually went pretty well in the end. When they had first arrived, the little kids had been running about wild, shooting spitballs and throwing paper kunai. Whoever they had for a teacher clearly couldn't handle them at all. Naruto's loud voice and attention-grabbing mannerisms (he threatened to give them all wedgies if they didn't "sit down and shut the hell up") had settled the hooligans down.

From that point on, the students had listened and watched intently as the three genin talked about and demonstrated just how important teamwork could be. The fact that they were still tied together had actually managed to help the situation.

After they had finished, the whisker-marked boy had motioned Konohamaru over and whispered something in his ear. The kunoichi had been able to make out the words "laundry" and "itching powder," and the identical smirk on the two pranksters' faces was enough to guess the rest. Their missions and team training now complete for the day, Asuma-sensei had let them out of the triple harness, and the three friends had decided to go out to lunch at Ichiraku Ramen.

As they watched their noodle-addicted teammate consume bowls of the stuff, Ino and Kiba glanced at each other seriously. Being back at the Academy had been weird for all of them, and it must have been especially hard on Naruto.

"If you two want to ask me something, go ahead." Unpredictable as ever, the blue-eyed boy had not only noticed the shared look, but interpreted it correctly as well.

"We don't want to make you tell us something if you aren't ready to," the Yamanaka spoke for both of them.

He gulped down the soup from his current bowl and slammed it down hard on the countertop. "Bullshit. I know you both want to ask about Iruka-sensei. It's not something that's going to get any easier to talk about than it is now, so hurry it up already."

She'd never seen her teammate so vicious and snappy before, but he'd made himself plenty clear. "We want to know more about what happened that night. Like, why did Mizuki turn traitor, and how did you get involved?"

Naruto turned towards the middle-aged ramen chef. "Teuchi-ojiisan, is it okay if we go into the back to talk in private?"

The man turned to him, looking serious. "Sure thing, Naruto. But you're not going to te-"

The boy cut him off. "No, not today. I don't think I'm ready for that yet." As he turned to face them, Ino wondered just what "that" might have been. "C'mon, follow me."

She and the dog boy exchanged glances again before getting up and following him to a back room. Naruto settled himself on the floor an motioned for them to do the same. "Okay, this'll be a lot easier if you two just let me talk for now, alright? Save any questions till I'm done." The both nodded. "Thanks. Now lemme start by saying that I'm not gonna tell you everything right now. You two are my friends and teammates, so I'm not gonna lie to you, but there's some stuff, what you hear me talking to Teuchi-ojiisan about back there, that, like I said, I'm not ready to tell you. I promise that I will sometime, but for now you gotta let me have my secrets. Promise that you won't try to piece anything together, and if you do happen to figure it out, you gotta not jump to conclusions, okay?"

There was something way wrong with seeing him acting like this, serious and tense and frightened. Naruto was never frightened.

"I promise." Ino said immediately.

"Me too."

"Rrf!"

He relaxed. "Thank you. Now, where to start... You both know that I can't do a regular bunshin, right? Well, remember how it was one of the requirements for graduating the Academy? Yeah, I failed because of that. Well, after everything was done, when I was sitting on my swing watching all the parents congratulating their kids," she could see a deep, dark sadness pass through him as he remembered. Ino had never thought much about that aspect of his being an orphan, having to watch all the other kids with their parents, knowing you didn't have any of your own, "Mizuki-teme came up to me. He told me there was a makeup test that I could take since I'd just barely failed the original. I... I was so desperate that I believed him without really thinking about it...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Then I woke up in the hospital the next afternoon. Jiji was there and he explained everything," he finished.

They both spent about a minute absorbing everything they'd just learned. Ino was the first to speak. "I don't get it. Why did Mizuki hate you so much? I mean, hatred on that level doesn-"

"Sorry, that has to do with the thing I'm not ready to tell you. You know how Mizuki-teme was because of it, and he's not the only one. I just need a bit more time." Remembering what he had said at the beginning, and how he had acted, she dropped the issue.

Kiba's mind was working along completely different lines. "So, just what was it that happened when you killed the bastard? I mean, we know that just pumping chakra to your muscles doesn't do anything, but somehow a whole bunch of the stuff put your body into some sort of super mode? That just doesn't make sense."

"Eh, I don't really get it either. And you gotta remember that I damn near killed myself in the process, so I haven't been too anxious to experiment." It was just like boys to focus on the fighting like that. Whatever.

"So, anything else either of you've got questions about?" he asked them.

"No. I just wish you didn't have to go through that, Naruto"

"Yeah, same here."

It felt better now, knowing just how the man who had taught them all so much had died. "Well, I'm gonna get going then. See you tomorrow, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru."

"Yeah, see you."

"Bye."

"Arf."

The blonde boy walked out, leaving his teammates feeling somewhat... content.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Asuma looked over his three students. They were being a bit more quiet and somber today than was normal; he'd need to remember to ask one of them just what had happened after he had left the day before. Not right now, though. "Hey there. Since yesterday was teamwork-intensive, today I'm going to split you up and work with each of you individually. From now until the Chunin Exams, we will alternate between teamwork days and individual days, unless we're on a mission out of the village, or days when we workwith Kurenai and Gai's teams." (the taijutsu specialist had joined in on the team sharing setup just the other day, and the first session had gone well, except for the attitude of Hyuuga Neji) "You've all progressed with nature manipulation to the point where I don't need to supervise you anymore, so work on that is to be done during your free time. For now, I want you to split up and each pick something you need to work on. I'm going to come around to each of you separately to help and give advice. Understood?"

"Gotchya."

"Yep."

"Uh-huh."

He motioned for them to break, and the young ninja leapt off in different directions. Now, who should he check up on first? Mulling over the choices in his mind for a bit, he decided on Ino. She was probably the one with the least direction to her training right now, so the bearded jonin was rather interested in seeing what she was most interested in. He walked off towards her chakra signature.

The man could hear the distinctive sound of kunai flying every so often before his only female student came into sight. At the same time, there was something slightly off about the sound that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

The jonin chose to watch her for a few minutes before revealing himself, so he could see just what she was attempting. Ino first gathered up a relatively large amount of chakra in her hand, before releasing it in a single burst. The result was a surprise: a small but dens cloud of steam surrounding the hand and the area immediately around it. Mixing her two different elements and releasing them both at once? That was surprising.

From out of the quickly-dissipating steam cloud flew a single kunai, and Asuma immediately picked up on just what it was that made the weapon's flight sound off. There was a chord of extra-thin wire wrapped around the hilt. The kunoichi gave a small sideways tug on the wire, making the thrown weapon also lash out to the side. Not very gracefully of course, but it was a start.

"That's a nice idea you have there," he commented while walking up beside her, "trying to direct the kunai in midair like that. And using a burst of both your elements combined for the steam to hide the throw, the wire, and the motions you make to direct it. Did you come up with this by yourself?"

She looked up at him, happy to hear the praise. "Yeah. It started with me thinking about what you said about no one ever having had both fire and water natured chakra before, so I tried combining the two and got steam. All I can really do with it right now is just build up a cloud of the stuff, like you saw, so I started thinking about what I could use it for." The girl seemed rather excited as she spoke; apparently Naruto's joy of creating interesting and unpredictable things had spread to the other blonde.

"It turns out the steam is actually hot enough to scald someone or something, but doesn't affect me so much because it's made with my chakra, so I can add it into my taijutsu as a little surprise, but I figured there should be another use as well. Then I realized that I can use it like a miniature smokescreen, and the wire-guided kunai grew from that. And since I know a lot about plants from working in the flower shop, I could maybe coat my weapons with poisons and paralyzing toxins too. It still needs a lot of work, though." Her face fell at the end, as she thought about how poor and wild her attempts at controlling the kunai were.

"That's a brilliant idea, Ino. Don't worry about not being so good at it yet, though; that's what practice and training are for. You've also managed to eliminate the biggest problem with wire-guided kunai right away: their paths can be predicted by watching the thrower's hand movements. Another thing you'll have to work on is making the chakra buildup before your steam burst faster and less noticeable, especially if you want to incorporate it into your taijutsu. Now, I'm no expert in wire-guided weapons, but I can teach you the basics. From there you'll be mostly on your own, though. Sorry." He gave her a consolatory pat on the head, resulting in her giving him a glare in return. "I'll leave a kage bunshin with you, since I have to go check up on the boys before one of them hurts themselves."

"Thanks, Asuma-sensei," the girl said to him as he made the clone and leapt off.

Hmm, who next? He hadn't been kidding about the othe two hurting themselves, as Kiba and especially Naruto had that annoying tendency to overdo things. If something did happen to one of them, the Kyuubi jinchuriki would be able to recover faster, so the Inuzuka it was, then.

When he found the dog boy, the Hokage's son concluded that his third student's flair for the unexpected had passed on to _both_ of the others. Kiba was reading.

While that would have been a shock enough by itself, it was the material that really caught his eye. The scroll was titled "jutsu creation made simple." Akamaru was a short distance away, chasing after a squirrel.

"You're trying to make a new jutsu?" he asked, surprised.

The advanced sense of smell of the Inuzuka clan must have done its work, as the boy wasn't taken aback by his appearance. "Not really, Asuma-sensei. More like change an already-existing jutsu."

Well this was certainly shaping up to be an interesting day. "Oh really? Do tell." Te bearded jonin settled himself down on the grass next to his student.

"Well, the other day," he began, "Hana showed me this one medical jutsu, the Chakra no Mesu (chakra scalpel), and I was thinking, what if I could do something like that, but for when Akamaru and I are using Juujin Bunshin, with a blade spread over each claw? Cause that wouldn't just give us increased range, but enemies wouldn't be able to block it, either, since the blades are chakra-based, right?"

Asuma thought about it for a moment. "Hmm, that does sound useful, and with the claws already there to base it off of, it might actually be able to work. You'll probably need to work on your chakra control quite a bit before you're able to use it in battle though, and we'll need to figure out how to do the jutsu as well. I'll tell you now that the scroll you have there isn't going to be much help, if any. Tonight and tomorrow, I'll see if I can find any similar jutsu we can use to build your off of, then get back to you with whatever I find." Then his chakra sense picked up something worrying. "It looks like I'm going to have to run and leave you with a kage bunshin for now, though, because I can sense Naruto's chakra building up all the way from here, so whatever he's about to do could end up seriously damaging him. Good luck." That last part was spoken at a rush while making the replica, then he dashed off at full speed towards the ever-increasing chakra of his remaining student. He felt bad about having to leave the Inuzuka behind so quickly, but the amount of chakra he could sense from the blonde was rapidly approaching unsafe levels.

Less than twenty seconds later, he leapt into the clearing where the boy's chakra was coming from, prepared to shout at him for whatever he was thinking. What Asuma found was not anything he had expected. Naruto was standing in front of a training log in his normal taijutsu stance, left arm drawn back for a full-force punch. All the chakra buildup he had sensed was coming from that one arm, and his blue eyes held a look of deep concentration. Doing anything to disturb him right now wouldn't turn out well. But just what was the boy thinking? He knew perfectly well that his unique muscles were unaffected by chakra, so why...

The bearded jonin's thoughts were interrupted when Naruto's fist shot forward at speeds so fast it was little more than a blur. There was a horrible cracking, splintering sound as knuckles made contact with wood, followed instantly by an explosion of wood splinters and a scream of pain. He was at the blonde's side in under half a second.

He noticed several things right away. The boy's knuckles were skinned to the bone, and his whole left hand was bleeding heavily. His left arm was hanging unnaturally, limp and clearly broken in multiple places. The log he had just punched was pretty much gone. And his face was alternating between grimaces of pain and a pride-filled look of success.

"Hey... ...Asuma-sensei..." he greeted in a strained voice.

The man didn't know wether he should be furious or amazed, so he settled for both. "Naruto, what the hell did you just do?"

"Hehe... ...I... ...had an idea... ...from when I... ...killed Mizuki-teme... ...I tried... ...causing chakra overload... ...in just... the one arm muscles... ...to see... ...what wold happen... Pretty neat, huh?" he looked towards where the log had been moments before. "I can't... ...move my arm though... ...and it... ...hurts like hell"

Had he not already known the blonde was technically insane, Asuma would have ordered a psych evaluation based on this incident alone. Injuries like the ones he'd just sustained would be enough to end the career of any ordinary shinobi. To think that he'd done that to himself while experimenting with purposely inducing partial chakra overload...

Really, he should have expected something like this sooner or later, though. The evaluation he had made his student go through had turned up some interesting results. For one thing, Naruto was literally incapable of feeling fear for his own personal well-being. He could be plenty afraid of harm coming to people he cared about, or how things that happened to him could affect them, but the emotion most people thought of on hearing the word "fear" was something completely foreign to the blonde. That had been one of the more obvious things they had discovered, the other being a strange, previously-unheard-of case of something similar to multiple personality disorder. The greatest difference between normal MPD and what Naruto had was that his "personalities" all cooperated and shared many similar traits. It explained how he was always able to switch moods so fast, between silly and serious and sad and angry all in a few seconds.

As far as what had just happened, it wasn't too hard to figure out. Apparently the boy's muscles, while non-responsive to chakra in reasonable amounts, were in fact boosted by the energy when overexposed to it. The sudden burst of extreme strength was far beyond his ability to control properly, and as such the bones and flesh of his arm, not being equally chakra-enhanced, had not been able to stand up to the sheer force of his punch. The muscles used had also been depleted of all their remaining energy.

Asuma considered forbidding the blonde from using this ability in the future but decided against it. For one thing, Naruto might not listen to him in the first place. Second, despite the way the boy sometimes acted, he clearly wasn't stupid; he had probably realized even before attempting this that it would be a one-shot ability with severe consequences. He would treat it as such during missions. And third, the jonin trusted his student to be responsible when necessary. After all, if he weren't, the entire village would have been Kyuubi food long ago.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It had been a little over two weeks now since team seven had started their more advanced training schedule. They had improved pretty quickly over the short amount of time, both as a team and as individuals. The genin no longer needed the triple-harness-of-doom to work together with each other well, and Asuma-sensei had said that their teamwork was about as good as it would get now without years of experience.

On their own, they'd also done pretty well. Kiba had completed and named his Chakra no Tsume (chakra claws), which, unlike the Chakra no Mesu it was inspired by, extended a good six inches from his fingertips and could cut large gashes in anything not sufficiently chakra-reinforced, though he had some problems using it in real combat still, cause apparently it needed a lot of control. Ino was starting to get damn deadly with her wired kunai and blistering steam taijutsu/ninjutsu combination.

And Naruto had, in addition to testing out his super strength a couple more times to make sure he could use it right if needed (he learned that use of whatever limb he sent into chakra overload would be completely gone for a bit over three hours, five if he wanted to cut down on the pain by overloading the bones as well), also gotten down wind manipulation to the point where Asuma-sensei had taught him another jutsu – Fuuton: Guufuuken no Jutsu (wind element: tornado fist jutsu). The Guufuuken made a miniature tornado form around the user's hands, which could then be used either to add power to a punch or launched at foes from a distance. The problems with the jutsu were that it needed eight handseals to activate, making it not so good for using during the middle of a taijutsu fight, the swirling wind made it harder to direct his arms precisely when punching, and his regular kage bunshin couldn't use the thing, since it caused little cuts on his hands and wrists because he was still lacking in the control area.

Right now, though, the blonde boy and his team were in Jiji's office. Apparently they had a real mission finally. The old man finished whatever paperwork he was doing and motioned them over.

"Team seven, there you are. This request just came in late last night. Several towns in southern Fire Country are having problems with bandits on the roads, as well as a string of missing persons cases over the past couple months. The local authorities have given up and asked for help from Konoha. I think this would be a good mission for your team. Do you accept?"

Something about the way the old Hokage was acting seemed a bit off, but the mission sounded pretty standard, and beating up bandits was always fun. "So basically we go down there, kick some bandit ass, and save a bunch of people? Awesome! Where do I sign?"

His two friends were smiling as well, so they obviously agreed on taking the mission, too, which just left...

"Sure, we'll take it," Asuma-sensei announced.

Jiji smiled. "Good, I want you gone within the hour. Asuma, if you could stay behind for a moment please?" At that last bit, he'd switched into Hokage mode, so whatever he wanted to talk to his son about, it was clearly both important and private. Naruto and his teammates knew better than to listen in, but the boy could feel the sensation of worry in the pit of his stomach increase, like something was wrong. If only he knew what it was...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

This chapter was fun to write. It was nice just having a brief interlude to show the progress of team seven, both individually and together. Also, they become closer, with Naruto finally telling the others about Iruka's death. They develop their ninja abilities some more, too, in preparation for the Chunin Exams. Finally, I throw in a bit of foreshadowing about the upcoming mission.

Oh, the idea for Asuma's harness training was inspired by the story "Team One" by Joshua the Evil Guy.


	15. C is for complications

**chapter 15**

**C is for complications**

There were three different towns that had been suffering from the bandits and missing persons, all too large to be considered simple villages, but too small to count as cities. The payment for the mission was split equally between all three, but the request had come through Nobiru, the largest, so that was where they were now.

As team seven made its way to the mayor's office, Naruto took the opportunity to get is first good look at a "normal" town. Unlike the poverty he had seen in Wave, the people here were mostly happy and content, with only a little bit of worry in their eyes from all the troubles in the area. The buildings, some wooden, others made of stone or cement, were also in good condition. At the same time, Nobiru didn't have the sort of big, safe, home-y feel as Konoha, though that was likely because it only covered one square mile, didn't have several thousand ninja living in it, and wasn't home.

Pretty soon, they were all standing in front of the mayor, a short, old, balding man living in the fanciest building in the whole town. The blonde half-listened to the formal greetings, just so he wouldn't miss his own introduction and look like an idiot. Once that was out of the way, the old man explained the situation.

"Thank you for arriving so quickly." His voice was sort of dry and raspy, like someone who'd hurt their throat from too much shouting. "As I stated in the request, there are two problems, likely related. The bandits, and the missing persons."

"If you think they're related, why use the term 'missing persons?' Wouldn't 'kidnappings' be better?" Asuma-sensei asked, curious.

The mayor nodded. "You are correct. However, there is no definite evidence of any kidnapping, only vanishing people. To be honest, there are a few oddities about the bandit attacks as well. For one thing, they aren't discriminating in their targets at all. Men, women, merchants, craftsmen, they're all at equal risk. On top of that, the bandits never make an effort to hide the bodies of the people they kill, then there's the part where we can't find the bastards. The only confirmed sightings are from the occasional survivors of the attacks.

"The disappearances are even stranger, though. Because almost all of them are children ages five to twelve."

Something in Asuma-sensei sort of... changed when he heard that. He stopped acting so laid back and started paying closer attention. For his part, Naruto was furious. When he found those bandits, he'd tear their heads off, one at a time, then-

The bearded jonin glared at him, a glare that said "Stop now. You're starting to lose control." He hadn't even noticed the Kyuubi slipping deeper into his mind beneath the anger.

"That's not to say it's only the children vanishing, as it isn't too uncommon for for teenagers and young adults to simply disappear as well. Most of them are children, though, usually orphans. There have been a lot more of those around lately because of the damn bandits, too."

On learning that bit, the boy couldn't help but wonder. All these orphans, how were they living? Alone, like he had, or was there an orphanage in the town? Did they feel sad, unwanted and friendless, Or were they cared for and loved, even if not by parents? He was going to find out while here.

Asuma-sensei was asking the mayor some questions, and Naruto knew he should be listening, as it was about the mission. But he just couldn't get his mind off of the possibility that there might be other children in this town, growing up like he had. Before he knew it, the meeting was over, and the three genin were following their sensei outside.

"Okay, in this sort of situation, normal procedure is to pose as civilians and get the bandits to attack us," the jonin explained, "but there's two reasons why we're not going to do that here. Anyone care to make a guess?"

Naruto had an idea, but since he'd messed up during the meeting with the mayor, he kept quiet, giving the other two a chance

Kiba went first. "Cause it's too late in the day?" Indeed, the sun would be setting in a couple hours, and normal people tended to sleep at night.

"Correct, and the second reason?"

"There are just too many unknowns, so we'll need to gather more data first." Ino said confidently.

"Also correct," Asuma-sensei praised. "For now, I want you all to split up and wander around town. Find out as much as you can. We'll meet up at the village entrance in three hours. Understood?"

"Yes, Sensei." the younger team members said in unison.

"Good. Get going." And they each went their separate ways. For his part, Naruto had a specific idea of what he wanted to do.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The blonde boy had asked the first passerby directions to the orphanage. It turned out there were actually three orphanages in Nobiru, so he had chosen one at random. Like all the other buildings in town, the wooden exterior of the orphanage was in good repair. Almost immediately after he walked in, though, his sensitive ears picked up a sound that made him freeze.

It was the voice of a young girl, in a sort of mix between shouting and crying. "You're gonna beat me in the end anyway, so why don't you just hurry up and do it already?" Naruto was already moving by the time she finished, running as fast as the narrow hallways would allow towards the sound.

"Disrespectful little brat! I take you in when no one else would, and this is how you repay me?" The second, angry voice belonged to a man. There was the sound of something swishing through the air, then a thwack noise, followed by a short scream of pain.

The young ninja had reached a closed door, behind which the noises had been coming from. He threw it open to find just what he had feared. A red-haired little girl of about five or six, dressed in torn, dirty clothes, was lying on the ground, being beaten with a cane by a large middle-aged man. Scattered about the rest of the large room were twenty other similarly dressed orphans of varying ages, looking on in sadness and fear. He swung the hard wooden object at the prostrate child again, but before it even got halfway, Naruto was in the way, glaring up at him with frigid blue eyes, a tight grip around the hand with the cane. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked dangerously.

The man was frozen in shock for about five seconds, before he started spluttering out a response, while making futile attempts to free his hand. "I- Wh- Who- How-" Eventually, he switched to being outraged. "Who the hell are you and what d'you think you're doing in my orphanage?"

The boy tightened his grip a bit, causing a grimace of pain to cross the man's face. "I'm a Konoha ninja, and I don't like the way you're treating these kids. Since you're obviously not gonna be any help, I want you to stand still and stay quiet while I talk to the orphans you're supposed to be talking care of. Do that, and I'll consider not breaking your hand, got it?"

The orphanage owner gave a terrified nod, and Naruto released him. He turned to the redhead still on the floor. "You okay? What's your name?"

"I'm Asuka, and I'll be all right, thanks to you. Thank you, Oniisan." She had big brown eyes that were looking at him with sincerity and gratitude.

"Oniisan?" he asked, confused.

The little girl smiled. "Yeah, you saved me, just like a big brother would, so that makes you my oniisan!"

He couldn't help but smile back. "Okay then, Asuka. I'm Naruto, and if you really want, I can be your big brother, for now anyway."

"Yay!" The small redhead leapt at him and hugged him. The boy gave her a gentle hug back.

The young ninja then went around the room, talking to each of the orphans in turn, learning their names and a bit about them, as well as about the orphanage itself. About half of the children had been living there their entire lives, or at least as long as they could remember, while the other half had lost their parents to bandits and had nowhere else to go. Asuka was part of the first group.

The orphanage's owner was named Matsuragi Kouske. They had to call him Matsuragi-sama to his face, but amongst each other he was known as Mean Old Matsuragi. He made them do work making shoes every day, as well as chores like cleaning and laundry (both their own and his). Food was an icky, disgusting mush, and they were beaten for the smallest of mistakes. The only break they got was when someone would visit the orphanage for some reason or another. When that happened, the man would switch, pretending to be kind and loving, and telling the visitors how good care he took of them. And if they weren't all on their best behavior, all the orphans would get an extra severe beating and no supper.

Many of the orphans had considered running away, but didn't because of the Gobblers, which was the name they'd given to the bastards who stole away little kids. It was safer indoors in a group than out on the streets alone. Not completely safe, though, as a boy named Masaru had gone missing just last week.

After he talked to all the kids, Naruto dragged Kouske-teme out of the room and into another, tossing him into a chair by a desk. He was angry, and this guy... To think he'd do that kind of stuff to children he was supposed to care for.

The large man's fear had abated slightly, to the point where he could talk again. "What gives you the right to barge into my orphanage like this and start threatening me, questioning the way I treat-"

But he wasn't gonna hear it. "Shut up, or I really will hurt you," he growled out. "And you wanna talk about rights? Well just what the fuck gives _you _the right to _beat children_? Those kids are sad and lonely, half of them lost their families, and the other half never knew them! And here you are mistreating and neglecting them, taking advantage of them, and lying to everyone else about it all! If there weren't laws stopping me, I'd kill you right here! Now get the fuck outta this building while you still can!" Naruto had gotten louder as he spoke, until he was shouting in the man's face. The bit about killing was an exaggeration he had no intention of following through on. More to intimidate than anything else.

The young ninja could see in the bastard's eyes that he was still thinking of him as a small boy, despite the forehead protector in plain sight. So it wasn't the least bit surprising when he pulled out a sword "hidden" under the desk and swung at him. The weapon was of poor quality, and the idiot clearly had no idea how to use it, so it was ridiculously easy to grab the blade in mid-swing and snap it in two with a simple twist of his wrist. "Leave," he ordered. Now sufficiently frightened, the bastard ran away, right out of the building.

Naruto went back to the kids and told them the good news. Then he made a few kage bunshins (to the delight and awe of his audience) and sent one off to check on each of the other orphanages in town, while a third went out to find someone else willing to take Kouske-teme's place. The real him and the remaining clones stayed there and played with the children, organizing games of hide-and-seek, and tag, and similar things. He always made sure to let them win, of course. In the end, they were all laughing and having a great time.

But eventually, the time came that the young genin had to go meet up with his team. "Naruto-oniisan, don't go!" While all of the orphans enjoyed his presence, little Asuka was the only one to have "adopted" him.

"Sorry, Asuka-chan, but I've got important ninja stuff to go do. I'll be back tomorrow, though. I promise." He'd found himself really liking the redhead, even more than any of the others. There was just something sweet and innocent about her, in the way she talked all the time and expressed herself so openly. If it was possible, maybe he really would take her back to Konoha with him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey Asuma-sensei, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru!" he shouted out to his team while jogging up to greet them.

"Naruto! Where have you been? You're fifteen minutes late." the other blue-eyed blonde scolded.

He scratche the back of his neck, giving an embarrassed grin. "Hehe, sorry. Y'see I went to check out the orphanages, since that mayor guy said it was mostly orphans disappearing. And one of them, well, the guy in charge of it was an evil bastard, so I kicked him out and found a nice lady to take his place. I spent some time playing with the kids there, cause they all had to go through a lot of horrible shit under the bastard, and I wanted to give them a fun time, and I kinda lost track of what time it was."

The others all looked at him like he was insane. "Naruto?" Kiba asked, hesitantly, "You do know we're not allowed to just bully people around like that unless it's part of the mission, right?"

He hadn't, but it really didn't make a difference this time. "You didn't see how he was treating the orphans there. I'm positive it must've broken some law or another, and he would've been in the way of the mission anyway, cause none of the kids would've talked so much if he was threatening to beat them."

Their bearded, cigarette-smelling sensei settled the matter. "It sounds like Naruto was justified in this case. Just make sure you don't start doing that sort of thing too much. If you're found guilty of abuse of power, you could be stripped of your status as a ninja. Are you clear?"

Stripped of ninja status? That was pretty severe. But there had to be something in place to keep greedy ninja from mistreating the general people, so he guessed it made sense. "Clear, Sensei," he acknowledged.

"Good. Now that we're all here, let's share what we found out, then decide our plan of action. Since you were late, Naruto, I want you to go first," Asuma-sensei ordered.

All together, the four spent nearly an hour telling each other their information. Kiba and Akamaru had gone around to the homes of families who had had disappearing members recently and searched for scents. He confirmed that they were indeed kidnappings, as each of missing person's room had scents in it that didn't belong to someone living there, but they were all too old to pick up on a trail.

Ino had focused on the bandits, talking to survivors and asking permission to look through their memories of the attacks. Most had refused, but the memories she had been able to experience were helpful. From them, she could tell that these bandits were far more adept with weaponry than expected for run-of-the-mill robbers. Never once in all of the attacks had one of the bandits been hurt or killed, even when travelers had started to regularly carry weapons of their own.

Asuma-sensei had actually been the least successful at finding out stuff about the situation directly. He'd gone and talked to the local law enforcement to see the details of what they knew. It turned out there were no details, nor anything that the mayor hadn't already told them, besides lists of dead and missing. The fact that they'd collected so little information was pretty damn odd, though.

Naruto gave words to what all three genin were thinking. "Sensei, d'you think they might really be shinobi in disguise?"

The man gave him a serious look. "That's definitely a possibility. If we are dealing with other ninja, we should request backup from Konoha. We have no idea what their numbers or strength are, what they're trying to accomplish, or anything else, really. Here's the plan: tonight, we pick a hotel near the center of the town. I want you, Naruto, to have kage bunshins patrolling in pairs while we sleep, with one more in the room with us. Any unusual activity, and one of them dispels, the clone in the room wakes us, and we all go check it out, together. If tonight is quiet, we'll use tomorrow to do reconnoissance in the area around Nobiru, then, if we don't find anything, head on to the next town and repeat the process. Understood?"

"Got it."

"Yeah."

"Yep."

"Arf."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That night turned out to be uneventful, as Naruto's patrolling clones picked up nothing out of the ordinary. As usual, he woke up at a time sane people would consider early and went into the woods surrounding the town for his morning training.

Once that was done, and it got to be a time when normal people would be awake, the blonde made good on his promise to visit the orphanage. He knew something was wrong right away, when one of the boys, a brown-haired ten-year-old named Ichiro, was waiting for him just inside, worry clearly written on his face.

The boy flung himself at him and began sobbing into his shoulder. "Naruto-san, they took her! The Gobblers, they took Asuka-chan! We woke up this morning and she just... She just wasn't there! We looked everywhere! You can find her though, right Naruto-san? You'll get her back?"

Damn it. They were definitely dealing with ninjas now, and ones with some great stealth skills at that; there'd been at least one clone near the orphanage all night, which meant whoever took her had been able to sneak by completely undetected. Not good.

Right now, though, he had distraught children to comfort. "Yeah, I'll find her, trust me." He set Ichiro down on the floor gently, before making a single kage bunshin. "He's gonna stay here with you guys, okay? There's some stuff I gotta go do if I wanna find Asuka, so I'm gonna get going, but if you've got anything here that belongs to her, something that was close to her a lot, like if she sleeps on a certain pillow all the time, that'd help me and my friends find her faster, got it?"

On hearing Naruto's reassuring words and tone of voice, the brown-haired child settled down a good deal. "Y-yeah, she always uses the same bedsheet every night, and that's still here. C'mon, this way!" He ran off into the building, and the young ninja followed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He leapt back into the hotel room through the window to find the rest of his team still there, their days getting off to a slow start. "They took her!" he announced without preamble, "And it's definitely ninja we're dealing with, cause they snatched her from right under my nose!" The others gave him their full attention in an instant. "One of the orphans I met yesterday, a sweet little redheaded girl named Asuka, about five or six years old. She vanished in the middle of the night, just like the others!"

Had Naruto been any less observant, he would've missed Asuma-sensei tensing ever so slightly when he gave the description. Not the time to think on that this minute, though. He threw the sheet he was holding at Kiba. "It's hers, see if you can't get a scent off it. I've got two hundred clones searching in pairs as we speak, but whoever did this is good, so scent's probably our best bet."

The bearded jonin took over before he could say anything more. "Right, make clones to go with Ino and Kiba too, then all of you move out. I'm going to write up an aid request and send it back to the village, because we're well beyond a C-rank here. You find anything, stay hidden and don't move until we're all there, is that clear?" A swift nod from all three genin, plus four more clones. "Good. Go."

Six figures leapt out of the window. The real Naruto had stayed behind and was now staring intently at his sensei. "I said you need to go Naruto, what is it?"

He didn't move. "Exactly. What is it that's got you so worried all of a sudden? What is it about this mission that you're hiding from us, that you've been hiding from us since the beginning?" he demanded.

The Hokage's son sighed wearily. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I don't know anything I haven't already told you."

"_Jiji," a six-year old blonde boy asked, "Why do they all hate me so much?"_

_The old man sighed wearily. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I just don't know."_

"_Jiji," five years old now, "Who were my parents? Did Kaa-san and Tou-san not love me?"_

_The old man sighed wearily. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I don't know who your parents were. I am sre they loved you with all their hearts, though."_

The first memory popped up instantly, while the second kind of floated to the surface. So Jiji knew-

No. No time to think about that now, because Asuka-chan was in trouble.

"Bullshit. Tell me what's going on, Asuma-sensei."

The man sighed again, this time in resignation. "I just didn't want to worry you. The truth is that that girl, Asuka, is a jinchuuriki."

"Jinchuuriki?" the blonde asked, confused, letting the unfamiliar word roll off his tongue slowly.

His sensei semed surprised that he didn't know it. "Jinchuuriki is the word used to describe people... people with demons sealed into them." The jonin continued right away, not giving him a chance to say anything. "The Sanbi was sealed into her when she was born, secretly. Only you, me, the Hokage, and Jiraiya of the Sannin know this, as the person who told us died. It was only recently that we found out, and I myself didn't know until Tou-san told me just after giving us the mission. It seems that someone else found out there's a jinchuuriki in the area, just not the details. That would explain their focus on orphans over that specific age range."

Naruto was shocked. To think that sweet little Asuka was like him, the vessel for one of the Bijuu... And now those bastards had gotten their hands on her. He swore to himself he'd get her back even if he had to kill every last one of them to do it. At that moment, one of the clones with Kiba dispelled. Time to move.

"Sensei," he reported, "Kiba's found a scent trail."

The bearded jonin had been writing up a hastily-scrawled message as the boy had thought. He unsealed a messenger bird from a scroll and sent it on its way. "Good. Lead the way."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Team seven was leaping through the trees, following behind the Inuzuka, who was tracking Asuka-chan's scent. They were moving at a good bit less than full speed, both to keep from tiring out and to keep a careful watch on their surroundings. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

A shadow moved, and a man dressed all in black, a mask over his face, had a kunai to Kiba's throat. "Anyone moves, and the boy dies." They all froze. Damn it, there was nothing Naruto could do without his friend dying.

"Stand down," Asuma-sensei ordered the two blondes. The look in Kiba's eyes was telling them to just forget about him; like hell they would. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another black-clothed person materialize behind Ino and hit her on the back of the neck with a kunai. She crumpled into a heap on the tree branch. A moment later, the same thing happened to Asuma-sensei.

Naruto remembered the plan for hostage situations like these. They'd discovered that, because of the Kyuubi, it took a lot more to knock him out than what most people would think to try. As he felt the sharp blow to the base of his own skull, the genin focused on staying conscious while making it look like it had worked. Then he concentrated fully on his hearing, since it was the most reliable sense at the moment. He waited until he hard the slight rustle of cloth that signified the kunai moving from his teammate's throat before acting.

Springing to his feet, the genin made as many kage bunshins as he could with the short instant he had to gather chakra, before launching himself towards Asuma-sensei. The smoke and sudden movement was enough of a distraction for Kiba to elbow his captor in the gut and escape. Their first priority now was waking the jonin, as the two genin plus a nin-dog stood no chance without him.

The clones had knocked back the nearby enemies, and the dog boy joined him as he made a light cut on their sensei's cheek with his kunai. A sharp pain was the best way to get him awake, and sure enough, Asuma-sensei was on his feet faster than either genin could track, trench knives in his hands, glowing blue with chakra.

Their foes had recovered, though, and it seemed they had a backup plan. The clones had already been dispersed, and the black-clad ninjas had them surrounded. Before the conscious members of team seven could do anything, over a dozen small, spherical objects rained down on them. Asuma-sensei couldn't deflect all of them.

On impact, the balls released a gas, so they all quickly held their breaths. Not quite quickly enough, though, as Naruto and Kiba got some of it, the latter falling over right away. Sleeping gas, and a damn potnt one at that. The blonde felt a wave of drowsiness pass through him, but his advanced metabolism and immune system were keeping him awake for now.

He knew he didn't have long left, as his vision was already starting to blur. No time to do much, kage bunshins would be useless, had to help Asuma-sensei. He threw himself straight at where he could still hear and smell one of the enemies, overloading his right arm with chakra. There was a distinctive crunch of bone as his fist passed into and though the man's body, but even the pain wasn't enough to overpower the chemicals. Everything went black.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

By the time I got started on this chapter, Asuka was a character I had been waiting impatiently to introduce for a long time. Really, this mission in general, as one of the first things I planned for this story, was something I was impatient about. Looking back over this chapter, it seems a bit rushed, straightforward, and bland, probably because I was sort of rushing, anticipating the next chapter. As such, I really don't have much of anything to comment on, except that there are several references to various things in this chapter. I wonder who can spot them.


	16. escape from captivity

A/N: This chapter will contain bits of violence and other similar things that would normally be enough to raise the story rating to M. However, this will likely be the only chapter to take things to this extreme. So, instead of raising the rating for the sake of a single chapter, I am putting this warning here instead.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**chapter 16**

**escape from captivity**

The world slowly swam into existence around him.

As he returned to consciousness and his senses started working, Naruto tried to remember what had been going on.

The fog in his mind cleared enough for him to recognize that he was in a cell of some sort, and the memories came rushing back. They, him, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru, and Asuma-sensei, had been going after the ones who'd taken Asuka-chan. Then the ambush, the sleeping gas. He hoped the others were alright.

Right now, he had to find a way out of here. His mind went back to a lecture Iruka-sensei had once given about what to do in these sort of situations.

First, he had to inspect himself and his surroundings thoroughly. He was free to move around the cell, not that there was a whole lot of space to move around in, and some small experimenting proved that there was some sort of seal array around the room to prevent chakra usage. Shaking his arm a bit informed him that it had fully healed from the fight, so it had been at least a few hours since then. That meant his captors must've drugged him several times, because the dose he'd gotten back then would have been fully processed in under an hour. Naruto also found himself stripped of not only all his weapons (of course) but his jacket and shirt as well. They'd left him his pants, thankfully.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of stone, while the door was metal, with a small barred window near the top. Concentrating on his hearing told the boy that there was a single guard standing outside in a hallway. He was lucky, though, in that there was an air vent in the corner of the ceiling near the door, just big enough for him to fit into. A metal plate covered it, of course, but it was a way out.

Now the problem was finding a way to remove that plate without alerting the guard. As much as he would've liked to fight his way out, these people likely had other prisoners, including his teammates, and Naruto had no way of knowing just how many there were. His biggest advantage was that, unlike most prisoners they probably held, his strength and speed were natural instead of chakra-based, so he could bash the vent cover in as long as he had enough time.

After a few moments of looking around the cell, he came up with a plan. Taking a small rock, slightly larger than the tip of his thumb, he laid down on the floor and began throwing it at the vent cover in a slow, rhythmic pattern, so that it bounced back to him each time. _thunk, thunk, thunk,_ pause, _thunk, thunk, thunk,_ pause...

It didn't take long at all for the guard to check in on him through the window, making sure he wasn't trying to escape. The person (wearing a black cloth mask just as their attackers had been) confirmed that he was, in fact, just throwing a rock, and returned to his guard duty. After the next repeat of throwing, the blonde used the few seconds pause to silently leap up to the vent, wedging himself into the corner by pushing a foot against each wall. _thunk, thunk, thunk. _This time, though, his fist was holding the rock as it hit. The sound was the same tone, just slightly louder. He silently let himself fall back to the floor, returning to his laying down position, and the rhythm continued exactly the same.

The guard checked again, of course, but again assumed nothing was wrong and went back to his post. Naruto kept this up, switching between throwing the rock and hitting with the rock, and the metal plate began to give way. It took about five minutes before whatever was holding the thing in place from the other side broke. He swiftly and silently pulled himself into the vent, made a kage bunshin, and had the clone take his place in the cell. All without the guard knowing anything was going on.

Now came the hard part. He'd have to crawl really slowly in here to keep from making noise, as the slightest sound would echo and travel a long ways through the metal. Taking in a whiff of air through his nose, the young ninja found himself lucky yet again. He picked up the distinct dog-but-not-dog scent of Kiba. He followed the scent through the narrow, twisting ventilation system towards his friend.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba was frightened. He wasn't about to admit it to anyone, of course, but he was frightened. They'd lost, been captured, separated. He didn't even know if the others were still alive. He didn't even have Akamaru with him. His canine partner was alive, though; the bond between them was strong enough that he would know if he wasn't. That was good.

But other than that, there was nothing good about the situation. He was stuck in a cell with a guard right on the other side of the locked metal door. They'd given him a little food and water a couple hours ago, and he at least wasn't chained up, but things were looking pretty grim. Who knew when the reinforcements from Konoha would show up, or if they'd even find this place. Wherever "this place" was. He still had no idea who their masked, black-clothed captors were, or what they wanted, and the single guard hadn't responded to his questions earlier.

Then his nose picked up a faint scent, and the Inuzuka had never been so glad to smell ramen-and-fox. Naruto's scent was coming from a vent in the ceiling and getting stronger with each passing second. He felt hope fill him. Somehow, the knucklehead had gotten into the vents and was crawling around up there. A faint sound like a bolt sliding and the vent cover was unlocked, and his teammate swung it open slowly.

His whiskered face peeked in, grinning. That the blonde could grin at a time like this just proved he was insane. The face was soon joined by two hands, and Kiba was very, very glad Asuma-sensei had made them all memorize Konoha standard sign language.

/_when guard not looking, switch with kage bunshin_/

The dog boy gave another sniff of the air. The guy outside the door wasn't paying any attention at all.

/_now_/

His teammate's head disappeared, to be replaced moments later by his own. The fake Kiba dropped silently to the floor next to him, before picking him up and handing him to the real Naruto still in the ceiling. He found himself both amazed by and grateful for the boy's immense physical strength. Picking up another person, while under a henge, with such ease was not something a prepubescent twelve-year-old should have been capable of without chakra enhancement.

Now both safely up in the vent, the two boys continued their sign language conversation.

/Find_ Asuma-sensei's scent?_/

He took a deep whiff. Sure enough, that air of cigarette smoke that always hung around the man was easy to detect. For once, he was glad their sensei hadn't given up smoking completely. But...

/_Akamaru! Him first!_/

His partner was in the other direction, and he knew the dog's scent well enough to pick up on his fear, even from this far away.

In the dim light, he could just make out Naruto's blue eyes gazing at him sternly.

/_Asuma-sensei first. Best chance at survival_/

Kiba wanted to protest. Akamaru, all alone and scared, needed him! But those eyes told him it would be useless, and the logical part of his brain was agreeing with his teammate anyway. The bearded jonin was the most skilled and experienced of any of them, and they would need those traits as soon as possible. Akamaru would understand.

He began making his way slowly and silently towards the smell of cigarettes.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Asuma-sensei's cell had two guards in front of it, instead of the one that each boy had had. They found an exit from the ventilation system into the hallway and used chakra to go along the ceiling until they were directly above the guards, who never thought to look up. The two genin simultaneously gave a swift chop to the backs of the guards' necks, making them fall unconscious.

Dropping to the floor, Naruto searched them for the cell key, then used it to unlock the door. The bearded jonin gave his students a small smile of gratitude, before talking to them with sign language.

/_Thanks. Bring guards inside, replace all with clones. Ino or Akamaru closer?_/

Taking a deep breath in through his nose, Kiba answered

/_Akamaru_/

/_H__im first, then Ino_/

The two boys nodded in acknowledgment.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Over an hour later, team seven was fully reunited and safe in what seemed to be an interrogation room they'd found off of one of the many hallways. There was no one else in the area, except for the unconscious guard they'd brought with them, so they were free to talk out loud.

"Does anyone else think this escape is way too simple?" Naruto asked. "I mean, these guys were able to capture us with no problems at all, but now their whole base is pretty much empty. The only people we've seen the whole time sneaking around were the ones guarding our cells."

Asuma-sensei gave him an approving look. "You're right, there is something off about all this, which is exactly why we're here now." He turned to the other blonde, whom their captors had left with her underclothes fully intact, thankfully. "Ino, use your Omoi Shinnryuu no Jutsu to find out everything this guy knows."

What? He wanted her to... But what if the guard knew about Asuka-chan? That she was a, a jinchuriki? How would Ino react if... "I don't expect a simple guard like this to have any vital information, but you should at least be able to get a layout of the base and who these people are."

And just like that, the bearded jonin had assuaged his fears. The blue-eyed Yamanaka, though, looked troubled. He grinned at her. "You can do it, Ino-chan. Don't worry." Ino-_chan_? Where had that come from?

This wasn't a good time to think on that, however. The team kunoichi went through the handseals before placing her hand on the unmasked guard's forehead.

"**Omoi Shinnryuu no Jutsu"** (mind entry jutsu)

For about thirty seconds, she was just standing there sort of... blank, empty. When she came back into her own body, Ino was clearly sickened and disgusted by whatever she'd learned. "I found out why they've been kidnapping people," she announced. "They... They're doing experiments. On humans."

Naruto had a mixed reaction to that. He felt grateful that it wasn't about Asuka having a demon inside her, but whatever kinds of experiments these bastards were doing had to be horribly wrong. "They've had us captive here for about three days now, drugged most of the time apparently. Something about using our superior bodies as ninja to speed up the experiments. This guy really doesn't know much.

"It seems they're a special research group from the Hidden Demon Village." She paused, and everyone shared a look of confusion at the name. That meant Asuma-sensei had never heard of this "Youkaigakure" either.

"Not many guards are around right now because it's the middle of the night, so they're pretty much all asleep. This guy also has the complete layout of the base in his head, including the exit, the room where they've got our stuff, and...the lab, where all the kidnapped people are being kept," Ino finished.

Asuma-sensei looked at her proudly before spending a few moments thinking. Then he seemed to come to a decision; taking a sheet of paper and a pen from the table, he handed them to the kunoichi. "Draw a map showing how to gat to all three of those places, and be sure to add in everything you got out of his head. Once you're done, you, me, Kiba, and Akamaru will make our way towards the exit." She got to work immediately, splitting her attention between drawing and listening to the man as he kept speaking. "As for you, Naruto, you have the best stealth skills and the greatest chance of escaping a dangerous situation out of any of the four of you, so I want you to sneak further into the base, get our supplies, get into the lab, and rescue as many prisoners as you can. While you're there, collect any important-looking information you can find. There should be a sealing scroll among my things; use that to help you. Also, send a kage bunshin with us to update us on your status. There's also one more thing I'm going to have to tell you in private."

He led the boy off into a far corner of the room before, faster than Naruto could follow, going through handseals for what must have been a soundproofing jutsu, since all noise further than a few feet away just stopped suddenly. Glancing briefly at his teammates, he could see that they were curious about what might be going on but had enough sense to understand the meaning of classified. "Now, based on what we've just learned, it seems these 'Demon village' ninja actually didn't know about Asuka and her status as a jinchuuriki; that they managed to find her was pure coincidence. But since they are performing research and experiments on the kidnapped people, it won't take them long to find out, if they haven't already. I've already made it clear to you just how tightly-controlled that information is. As soon as we get back to Konoha, a large strike force will be mobilized to destroy this facility, but with travel time that will take at least two days, more than long enough for the information to spread if any of the researchers have already figured it out."

The jonin paused for a moment, as if considering what he was about to say. "Under ordinary circumstances, I would never make you do this, and even now I wish I didn't have to, but there's no other option. You are to find and kill the research staff."

Kill them? In cold blood? Just... murder them in their sleep? Then he remembered what Asuma-sensei had told him back in Nobiru. The fact that Asuka-chan was a jinchuuriki was something only a very limited number of people knew. If word got out to the ninja world at large, the things she would have to go through would make her time at that horrible orphanage seem like a wonderful dream in comparison. No way would he allow that to happen to that sweet little girl. Not ever.

Naruto looked the man right in the eyes, seriously. "Understood."

The jonin was somehow both satisfied and saddened at the same time. "Good," he dispelled the sound barrier, "let's all get ready, then."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto ran down another empty corridor, now dressed all in black, a small amount of chakra muffling the sound of his footfalls. He'd taken the clothes from the guard Ino had mind-read, using a kage bunshin henged into a kunai to cut them to a more fitting size. He was wearing the mask as well, to hide his face and bright yellow hair. Since this was a serious situation, he wasn't about to take chances with his usual bright colors.

The map that the blonde kunoichi had drawn had proven to be a hundred percent accurate so far, and he'd been able to completely avoid the few guards posted throughout the base. The young genin had already made it to the storage room and sent most of the team's equipment back to the others by a clone, keeping only his weapon pouch and a sealing scroll from Asuma-sensei's pack for completing the tasks the man had ordered him to do.

According to the map he'd memorized, the lab door and another guard would both be around the corner of the four-way intersection just up ahead. He came to a stop and slowly turned, peeking around the wall through the corner of his eye. Indeed, there was one guard in front of a thick metal door at the end of a one-way hall. As the boy his himself behind the corner again, memories flooded his mind from the kage bunshin he'd sent to deliver the equipment. The clone had safely met up with everyone else without incident before dispelling itself.

Good, so they were doing fine. Now he had a problem, though; namely, the guard. Said guard had a clear view of the entire hallway, with an alarm system right next to them ready to be activated at the slightest disturbance. The hallway was long enough that even an academy student would be abe to react to and dodge a thrown kunai, and any attempt at a henge would be discovered before he got even halfway there...

Wait, now _that_ was an idea! But there wasn't enough space to pull it off from where he was. Picturing Ino's map in his mind again, Naruto turned around and silently dashed down several darkened passages until he reached the far end of the corridor leading to the lab door. The distance, all-black clothes, and low lighting in this section made him all but invisible from the other end.

Now the only problem was that the dormitories for all the sleeping ninja were right behind him. One slip-up and someone was bound to be woken up. Concentrating carefully and taking his time to keep any excess chakra from flowing out into the open, he made exactly four kage bunshins. Then, just as carefully, he henged himself into a kunai. The first clone grabbed the Naruto-kunai before it hit the ground, then henged into a kunai himself, then the second did the same, followed by the third.

Being in the form of an object instead of a person was always really weird. Since things didn't have senses in the same way that people did, the only way to know what was going on was by what you could feel physically and through chakra. Gravity and pressure could help, too. But sight, smell hearing, taste... those just stopped existing. Naruto felt himself flying through the air as the remaining replica threw the henged clone kunai. That clone then deactivated its henge and threw its henged kunai, which changed back into its original form and threw its kunai.

When it got to the original's turn, he found the sudden sensation of speed to be disorienting for an instant. He'd expected that, of course, because he was now hurtling through the air at nearly four times the speed of his fastest kunai throw. Focusing all his attention on the rapidly-growing dark blotch that was the lab guard, he took a kunai of his own and hurled it towards the middle of the ninja's chest. Attempting to aim any more precisely than that when moving this fast was impossible and not really necessary.

Traveling at such high speeds, the metal knife went into and through the person's chest, so quickly there was no time to react. By pure luck, Naruto noted as he landed on the ground and skidded to a stop, it had even gotten the heart. He felt sad for the ninja he had just killed for a split second, before reminding himself that anyone who would willingly help those performing human experiments on kidnap victims deserved no kindness whatsoever. Finding the door key on the dead guard's belt, he placed it in the lock and slowly swung the heavy metal door open. He also pulled the mask off over the top of his head. There wasn't anyone beyond the door but the untrained researchers and their victims, so it was no longer needed.

As he had suspected, the lab wasn't just a single room but an entirely separate section of the base, with hallways and doors leading off to other parts. That fact was only in the back of his mind, though, as the boy's attention was drawn towards the "experiments" in this entry room.

People, and parts of people, were hooked up to a variety of machines, with metal tubes running into and out of their bodies, some of them encased in glass. Most of them were children. And all of them were still alive, every pair of eyes locked in an expression of total agony. There was a little girl missing the lower half of her body, suspended in a tube of water. A boy no older than ten had all four limbs severed from his torso, connected by wires instead of flesh and bone. Over half of them no longer had blood flowing through them, but a thick white substance instead. Some of the younger ones had their hearts or stomachs removed from their normal locations, but still attached and fully-functioning. It was sickening.

The violence and deformity wasn't what upset the blonde. No, his constant nightmares from the Kyuubi had desensitized him to all that a long time ago. What he found disgusting was that there were people in the world willing to do things like this. And the part where they forced their subjects to stay alive through it all.

"P-Please..." The quiet, raspy whisper had come from a corner of the room, and the place was so silent that it might as well have been a shout. Its source was a man hooked up to one of the countless machines; this one's function was replacing the blood with the white liquid.

"Please... kill... me..." Taking a closer look, Naruto recognized him. It was Matsuragi Kouske, the abusive former orphanage owner from Nobiru. His voice and eyes were pleading, begging for death. Looking around the room, now all of them had those same eyes. They wanted it to end.

The young ninja sighed deeply. In some ways, it felt like giving up, to end them like this, no matter how much they might want it. But these people, all these children and the occasional adults, would not be able to live unless they were still hooked up to the machines. Keeping them hooked up would mean leaving them here, to continue being test subjects for the rest of their lives. He had no choice.

"All right. I'll set you all free." The boy wanted to close his eyes. He didn't want to have to look at them as he slit their throats, or disconnected their tubes. But he did. He looked into each child's eyes as he watched the last of their life fade away. He stared on as those his age, and the ones older than him, passed away, trying to show their gratitude through the pain. He looked because to not do so would be disrespectful. It was more than fifteen minutes until he was the only living person in the room, and only then did Naruto stop and take a moment to wipe away the constant stream of tears rolling down his cheeks. There were still more rooms beyond this one. And he had yet to find Asuka-chan, or the sick, depraved bastards who had done this.

There were charts and stacks of paper in various places. Most of them were full of medical and scientific jargon that made absolutely no sense to him, but there was one, some sort of daily log, that he took time to read over.

"_Day 165– The plan worked perfectly. The staged bandit attacks convinced Konoha to send only a genin team, which was then lured into a trap and brought in by the capture squad early this morning. The Konoha team's aid request was intercepted and destroyed. One of the specimens shows abilities far beyond our expectations. The specimen (sex: male. appearance: blonde hair, blue eyes. age: approx. 12-13 yrs. height: 147 cm. weight: 54.9 kg. blood type: unidentifiable) will be referred to from now on as specimen O. Specimen O has advanced regenerative capabilities, healing internal damage at a rate of..._"

What followed was a really long list of numbers, terms, and statistics that Naruto had no hope of understanding. What he got from it was that the scientists had found his body fascinating and were preparing to do some experiments injecting his blood into some of their "test subjects." They labeled it "Project O." The writer also mentioned that the "capture squad" referenced earlier had left the base and returned home.

"_Day 166 – Tonight's entry will be short, as we are all very busy. 82% of the research staff has been delegated to Project O Preliminary results show that successful completion of the project could put us more than fifteen years ahead of schedule. In case of security breach, all project information and results are confined to project files. All other projects have been placed on hold, with only enough staff remaining for maintenance purposes. All remaining fresh test subjects (H-35 – J-87) have been diverted for use in the project._

_- head researcher, Hibiki Ryuto_"

Naruto went right on to read the newest entry.

"_Day 167 – After only two days, results from project O are already developing beyond my wildest dreams! We will need to send out for more test subjects tomorrow, as over 90% of the original lot have become deceased since the project began. I have sent the rest of the research team to get some well-deserved rest, and I know I should do the same, but this is simply too exciting! I honestly believe project O may lead us directly to the Final Stage of Development! And if it does, oh, how proud my family will be of me! I might even be congratulated by Hatsumi-sama herself! Subject J-77 in particular is showing interesting reactions. I will stay up for a few more hours of study in laboratory E before turning in._

_- head researcher, Hibiki Ryuto_"

The part of the young ninja's mind that was reserved for shinobi-related thinking pointed out how absolutely perfect this situation was. The rest of him agreed completely. First, he collected all the papers and sealed them into the scroll, then he counted the number of rooms branching off from this main one, all of which were labeled. Dormitories 1-3, subject holding/testing A-J, medical ward, and laboratories A-I. A cross seal and a burst of chakra, and thirty four kage bunshins materialized. Five to sweep each dormitory (he remembered Asuma-sensei's orders, and any qualms he might have had about following them had long since vanished), two for the medical ward, and one for each of the other rooms. One clone would stay here with the sealing scroll, while he himself would go to lab E.

The door was a thick metal one, just like all the others in the area. Stealth really didn't matter anymore, so he threw it open. A tall, thin man with light brown hair, black eyes, and a small mustache sitting at a table turned and leapt to his feet at the sudden sound. Then he stood perfectly still in terrified silence for about five seconds. When Hibiki Ryuto recovered enough to start moving, Naruto dashed over to him and broke his right arm. The boy put his left hand over the man's mouth to stifle his scream, before releasing him. The scientist crumpled to the floor in fear and pain.

The genin gestured to the papers and charts spread out on the table. "Are these all the files for your project O?" he growled out.

"Y-y-yes. P-please, don-" Naruto cut the man off with a sharp kick to the chest, breaking one of his ribs. The clones that had gone to the dormitories had already finished their jobs and dispelled, so there wasn't anyone for his screams to wake up.

"Shut up." The boy turned his attention to the papers and began flipping through them. Most of it made no sense to him, just a jumble of indecipherable numbers and words. Then he found the chart keeping track of the general status of each subject. Every one that had received more than a certain amount of his blood had died instantly. The others were all labeled as "severe mental instability," most of those followed by a "deceased." Except for J-77, which just had "see detailed file."

As much as he hated himself for it, the blonde found himself gripped by a sudden morbid curiosity and couldn't resist looking through the reports on some of the other "test subjects." The ones who had died right away hadn't just died, it seemed. Their bodies had literally melted into piles of goop before disintegrating into nothing.

The files for the remaining patients went on a lot longer and said a bunch of stuff he didn't understand, so Naruto made Dr. Hibiki explain it to him. Apparently, the man had never felt any real pain before, because he was extremely cooperative.

The people who had survived the initial injection went through a complete physical transformation. The tiny bit of his blood in their bloodstream somehow took over their entire bodies and altered the DNA in all their cells (the young ninja was really glad he'd read that _genetics for dummies_ book). It was assumed that the instant deaths in the rest of the patients were a result of this happening too fast, and the body just fell apart. Then, the changes would really start happening, and not just on the cellular level. Huge increases in muscle density and volume, drastic improvements to all the senses, and all internal processes became vastly more efficient, along with complete restructuring of the skeletal system. The specifics varied greatly from person to person, but that was the general trend. The insanity was a direct result of the mind-shattering amounts of pain that accompanied the transformation process. Some of them had since managed to kill themselves, while the rests pent all their time making futile attempts to do the same, as their bodies regenerated faster than they could damage them.

While he was reading, the remaining clones dispelled, except for the one in the main room, who had started sealing away all the papers and stuff brought in from the other labs. None of the people they'd found were able to be helped, all in the same sort of condition as the ones in the first room. The ones who had been in the subject holding rooms had seen some of the "survivors" of Project X, thrashing about and tearing into themselves with claws, teeth... They were more like wild beasts than people now. Insane beasts, that somehow still knew they shouldn't exist and were constantly trying to destroy themselves. Some of them were wading about in stagnant pools of their own blood more than a foot deep. It was horrific.

The remaining clone came in, and Naruto turned to it. "Start sealing up all this stuff," he ordered. Neither of him was in the mood for idle conversation right now. The only file he'd kept separate was the one for J-77. The clone that had been through room J had noted that the equivalent cell was empty.

_subject J-77_

_(on arrival)_

_sex: female_

_appearance: red hair, brown eyes_

_age: approx. 5-6 yrs._

_height: 108 cm_

_weight: 16.2 kg_

_blood type: B+_

_subject J-77 had severely reduced reaction to specimen X blood compared to other test subjects. Reason for reduced reaction is still being researched._

_(after treatment)_

_sex: female_

_appearance: red hair, brown eyes_

_age: approx. 5-6 yrs._

_height: 113 cm_

_weight: 20.1 kg_

_blood type: unidentifiable_

He stopped reading there. That was Asuka-chan. Naruto shook the file in front of the whimpering scientist's face. "Where is she?" he demanded.

For some reason, the man was too scared to talk, so he instead pointed a trembling hand toward one of the doors in the back of the room, leading to what he already knew from the clones in the other labs to be a completely sealed metal containment chamber, with cameras and sensors built into the walls for observation. It took him less than half a second to reach it. Behind him, the clone sealed away Asuka's file with all the others.

Through the door, his sharp ears could barely make out the sounds of the little redhead sobbing quietly to herself. "It's okay... Everything's gonna be okay... Naruto-oniisan will come... And save me..."

To hell with finding a key. He was getting that door open, _now_. Overloading his right arm with chakra, the young ninja gave a single fierce tug on the handle, ripping the thick metal door from its frame and sending it hurtling across the room. He kept his physical response to the pain of his bones shattering to a brief grimace; he wasn't about to let Asuka-chan hear him screaming right now.

Naruto poked his head around the corner, smiling at the little girl as she looked up in wonder. "Hey there, Asuka-chan."

"Naruto-oniisan!" she shouted out. He could tell she wanted to jump to her feet and hug him, but the little girl had been through too much the past three days, and her body wouldn't even move. He walked over to her and picked her up with his still-intact left arm. Her eyes were red from crying, and trails of tears ran down her cheeks, but the little girl hadn't changed for the most part. She was a little bit bigger and heavier, like the chart had said, but that was it. "Naruto-oniisan, you came to rescue me..." she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Of course I did," he answered, gently passing her off to the kage bunshin. "You wanna get outta here, right, Asuka-chan?" She nodded. "Yeah, I thought so. Now, I need you to go on with my clone there and be really quiet and close your eyes, all right? I've got a few more things to do, then I'll be with you, okay?"

The redhead gave another small nod. "You're gonna save the other people, right, Oniisan?"

He nodded and grinned. "That's right. Now close your eyes." The little girl did as he asked, and the clone left, carrying her and the scroll full of research material. Naruto waited a full two minutes, not moving, before he released the tight hold he'd been keeping on his anger this whole time. The kage bunshin had been moving at full speed and should reach the base's entrance in just a moment.

The anger felt different this time. Different from in Wave, and different from the night Iruka-sensei had died. It was a raw, wild feeling, but contained for now, and this was his own not the fox's. He could feel it growing in him, giving him strength and power. He felt something start to shift deep inside his body.

Hibiki Ryuto was terrified to the point that his body forced itself into action, moving slowly to the alarm activation panel on the nearby wall. Naruto watched him, the anger and rage still growing. His clone dispelled, confirming Asuka-chan's safety. Then the demon container felt a strange tingling sensation spread through his body. When it passed, the scientist had just hit the alarm.

Naruto felt alive, powerful, and angry. The sound of the alarm reverberated through his head, impossibly loud. But even through that impossibly loud noise, he could still clearly make out the sound of his breathing and heartbeat, as well that that of the cowering, fear-smelling man across the room. And the scent of blood, both stale and fresh, from the nearby rooms filled his nostrils, as the currents in the air, stirred up by his waving tail, brushed over his golden fur.

He let out a slow, low growl, leaning in toward the weak, cowardly man, telling him that his death was coming, and nothing would prevent it. He began slowly walking forward, paws thudding heavily on the cement floor. Naruto absently noted that he was a bit taller now, about four or five inches, based on the relative size of the objects in the room. His body must have grown a fair amount larger, as well, since the clothes that had fit him just fine a minute ago were now shreds on the floor behind him.

The golden furred fox-boy let the growl turn into a roar as he swiftly grabbed the man by the skull and squeezed, blood, brain, and bone fragments exploding all over his clawed hand. No more time for playing around; there was stuff he needed to do, and the first of the now-awake ninjas would be arriving in less than twenty seconds, by the sound of the rapid footfalls from the hallway outside.

There were eighteen more people desperately wanting to be set free before he could fully let himself go. Naruto swore to himself, as he rammed through the wall separating lab E from subject holding J, that he'd kill every single human being left in this place.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Less than fifteen minutes ago, Matsumoto Isami had been asleep in her bed, having a nice dream about her boyfriend back home. She was a seventeen year old chunin from the hidden demon village and had been away from home for nearly six months now. Almost six months since she'd last spoken to Taro. They had considered getting married and had even gone to the Regstration Offce together to be sure they were a suitable match, but then this mission had come up, and their plans had been put on hold. Strange, how the mind sometimes tries to go back to happy times when one is running for her life.

It started when the alarm suddenly went off, waking them all from their sleep. Just like in the drills, she and her roommates had been ready to go and out the door in under ten seconds. The alarm had gone off in the lab, specifically lab E; Isami had never been in the lab before, her clearance wasn't high enough, but those sorts of issues were all waived during an emergency. She felt a bit uncomfortable about the possibility of having to fight in unknown territory but reassured herself with the fact that it was only a remote possibility.

Joining the stream of her fellow ninjas, the kunoichi ran into the lab and froze. She wasn't the only one, though. No one was moving. Some of those with subpar training hadn't even moved into combat stances. Everyone, herself included, simply stood there, staring at _it_.

It was some sort of fox-human hybrid, the basic body structure that of a person, but everything else like a fox, down to the single tail swishing back and forth behind it. It was crouched down on top of a table, clawed hands? paws? stretched out in front of its body. Large splotches of fresh blood marred the otherwise perfect golden fur that stretched over large, powerful muscles. Ocean-blue eyes with slitted pupils looked out at them ominously. Standing at its full height, the fox-person would probably be about 5'3". Not exactly very tall by human standards, but something about it just felt so very menacing.

Then, with a sudden roar and an unbelievable killing intent, it made its move. The tail went straight through a man's stomach and up into the chest of the ninja behind him. Its teeth clamped down around a kunoichi's throat, while one of the clawed hands tore off her arm and threw it into the chest of the man behind her. The other arm thrust straight into the ribcage of yet another shinobi and erupted from his back with his heart clutched firmly between its claws. Five dead, in an instant. When she had a moment to think later on, Isami would realize that those five were the only jonin currently in the base.

Someone gave the order to scatter, not that it was needed as everyone was already spreading out, trying to get as far away from the monster as possible. One squad of brave, young, foolish idiots tried to attack it head-on, only to be quite literally ripped to pieces in a shower of blood and gore the very next instant. Most of the ninja, Isami included, swiftly backed out of the lab. The long narrow corridors would work to their advantage against this thing, limiting its movement. It stayed where it was, a low growl coming from its throat.

Two teams, eight ninja, tried throwing kunai and shuriken to cover the retreat. The beast countered with a deafening roar, laden with so much chakra that it sent the weapons flying straight bak at their owners, all of whom died by having either their hearts or skulls pierced.

On reaching the intersection, the chunin kunoichi went down the hall to the right. Less than five seconds later, a gold-red blur shot down the passage directly opposite it, leaving only pieces of the bodies of those who had retreated in that direction. Just like all the other victims, they didn't have time to scream.

It was too much. Isami and everyone else turned and fled in terror.

Somehow, whether by chance or some sort of instinct, she found herself with her teammates. The three people she trusted above and beyond all others in the world. They'd been running for several minutes before finally calming down enough to think rationally again. The halls were eerily silent. Occasionally there would be more abrupt screams echoing in the distance, or that ominous growl, coming from everywhere and nowhere.

After seven or eight minutes, messages started to come in through the radios. A group had made it to the entrance, only to find it completely blocked off by rubble. They'd tried removing the rubble with a doton jutsu, but it seemed the monster was clever as well as powerful, because the rubble had come from the walls of the ninja holding cells; the seals that were in those walls absorbed chakra. In short, they were trapped.

Every so often, Isami would hear the far-off sounds of battle, or sense the chakra bursts that accompanied high-power jutsu uses. Sometimes a lone survivor would radio in, panicking about how it had just shrugged off attacks that would kill a jonin. The monster was obviously toying with them.

A bit over ten minutes after the alarm first went off, Isami and her team were going down yet another corridor, praying for some way out of this hell. Then a wall in front of them exploded, and it was before her again, Its entire body was soaked in blood, to the point where not a single patch of gold fur was left, just the deep crimson. Violet eyes (weren't they blue before?) gazed at the four ninjas steadily, promising death. A blur of motion, and one of her teammates was in two pieces. They ran, and it watched.

She caught glimpses of the beast frequently after that, out of the corner of her eye, at the end of a dark hall. It wasn't until they met up with another group of survivors, then another, that she figured it out. The fox was herding them. It was using their fear, letting them know where it was so they would go the other way, bring them together and guiding them to...

The lab. There were ten people left. Two were her remaining teammates, one more she knew by name, another two just their faces, and the remainder she had never met. Someone, she had no idea who, closed the door behind them and locked it. Pointless, in her mind, but if it made them feel safer... From now on, the only thing that mattered was just how long it felt like allowing them to live.

Ten frightened chunin wouldn't be enough to stop something like that beast, not anywhere near enough. If they had all come at it full force right from the start, some of them probably could have lived, but that was in the past. It had eliminated the strongest and most experienced among them before anyone realized the true danger of the situation, then split them apart with fear and slowly picked them off. Isami and the other survivors were now no more a threat to the bloodstained fox than a fly.

She wondered briefly if this monster was the offspring of some sort of sick love affair between the Kyuubi and a person. No, that was just plain ridiculous. All the tales of the great demon fox depicted it as being pure destruction, far beyond things like love and sex. But if not that, where had it come from?

And what was it doing? Why so intent on playing this game, making them all suffer like this? Isami knew that what they did here was wrong, sure, but they did it for the right reasons, for the Dream. Hatsumi-sama was always talking about how the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. As everyone waited in silence for death, Isami looked around her. Could this really be some sort of divine judgement for the sins they had committed? No, that was absurd. She had been good all her life. She was a proud, loyal ninja of Youkaigakure. A faithful servant of Hatsumi-sama and the Dream! Her belief would not be shaken by some killer fox monster!

But it wasn't just the fox, she realized. Isami had always had a special gift for reconstructing the past in her mind based on the present, and it had been at work inside her unconsciously from the moment she first stepped into the lab. Her brain was piecing together all the little things, slowly showing her just what had been going on all these months behind the thick metal door she'd never been allowed past. And what her mind showed her, removing the dead ninjas, fixing the destroyed machinery and equipment, rebuilding the demolished walls, was looking to be just as sickening as what she and the other nine survivors were being put through right now.

But it wasn't enough, she had to know more, to get the full picture. Silently, the seventeen year old chunin stood and began wandering about the lab. She saw the research staff in their comfy, spacious dormitories, all with their throats slit in their sleep. She saw the single empty bed, and the dead, headless corpse of the man to whom it must have belonged. She saw the gruesome, blood-coated holding cells, and the pieces of eighteen other deformed, humanoid creatures. She saw the lack of what one would expect to find in a laboratory: records; not a single sheet of paper in the entire place.

Then Isami combined what was before her with what she had picked up over the past few days. Ever since the Konoha ninja had been brought in, the higher-ups had been surrounded by a constant aura of business and excitement, and rumors had said something about a huge new project in the lab.

From there, putting everything together was as simple as connecting the dots. Something special about the captured ninja had sparked a huge new experiment, but they weren't well-guarded and managed to escape. By chance, or maybe fate, the ninja with whatever special thing had been the one to investigate the lab. Kill the researchers in their sleep, steal all the information, that was pretty much standard procedure. But even ninja, no matter how emotionless they might try to be, are still human. The person had realized that they were the cause of all this suffering to the people kept here and just snapped. Whatever special power the scientists had been trying to play with came to the forefront, and the fox-beast came into existence. It made sense. This wasn't some sort of retribution from on high, but something they themselves had caused.

**BANG!**

It was done waiting. Just as she had predicted, the door was as effective as wet paper. It growled at them, a sound so low and deep that she felt the vibrations more than heard them. The all-consuming, unrelenting fear returned, with the sound, making them remember just what the situation was. Then it charged. Its movements were actually visible this time, so apparently it wanted to drag this out, make the final kills last.

Isami was rooted to the spot, her body frozen as she watched the others fall, one at a time. Then it was just the two of them. It came forward slowly, deep violet eyes staring unrelentingly into her own, a constant reminder of just how frail her life was. Then it leapt, blood-drenched claws rushing towards her heart.

"I'm sorry!"

It stopped, and now she could see the bit of human emotion in its eyes, not just the vicious rage of a wild animal that had been the only thing there before. The arm lowered, and it backed off. The meaning of the gesture was clear. It was letting her go. One single person, the only one to ask for forgiveness, was the one spared. She started to walk away.

Then something happened. A feeling in the air, and the fox-beast's chakra, something bad, far worse than everything that had just happened,, and it tensed suddenly, stiff. Then another change, and it was thrashing about wildly, yowling in pain. Right in front of her, its eyes started to change colors rapidly, shifting between the clear blue she had first seen and a dark red. Every fiber of Isami's being was telling her to get as far away as possible, as fast as possible.

She didn't listen. The past fifteen minutes had taught her that running wouldn't help, so she moved closer to the wild animal instead. Closer, closer. Then she hugged it, tightly, lovingly. It was in pain, and she wanted to give it comfort. She wrapped her arms around it, and the thrashing slowed, then stopped. It hugged her back.

Then a soft warmth surrounded her, almost familiar but not quite. The next moment, Isami recognized it as chakra, but not the chakra of anyone she knew. The pale blue light wrapped around her, protecting her. Because outside that small aura of safety was pure destruction. Impossible amounts of energy were pouring out of the fox-being, encompassing everything around them in a bright white light, so intense that everything it touched was obliterated in an instant. But she was safe inside the chakra cocoon, the warmth of someone else's arms around her, the feel of skin pressing... Skin?

She looked down, and indeed the fox was gone. Instead there was a boy, with ocean-blue eyes and golden blonde hair smiling at her sadly. "Thank you."

Those two simple words reached her ears, full of so many different emotions, and she understood. She smiled back, doing what she could to comfort him, even if it wouldn't be enough. Then the chakra surrounding her dissipated, and the light consumed her.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments: (note that the comments for chapters 1-16 were written well after the chapters themselves)

There isn't much for me to say about the first part of this chapter. I wanted to show that Naruto could, in fact, be sneaky when needed, and was able to keep his head in a crisis. Kiba, on the other hand, tends to overreact when Akamaru is in a bad situation, a side effect of their bond.

The later parts of the chapter were meant to be extremely shocking and gruesome. Also, most people reading this will probably be surprised to learn that the character of Isami was one I invented while writing the chapter. My original intent was for the slaughter to be from Naruto's point of view, but I didn't feel that would give the effect I was going for. That would need the viewpoint of one of the victims, so Isami was born.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching965, Orion


	17. the aftermath

**chapter 17**

**the aftermath**

Team seven had been waiting outside the base in the cold night air for several hours now. The whole place had been constructed underneath five small hills, the entrance hidden in the side of the largest one. That a facility like this could exist within Fire Country without Konoha having any knowledge of its existence...

Asuma was very worried. As the kage bunshin waiting with him received more and more memories from its counterparts dispelling inside, the jonin listened to the new information, and the picture it painted was very, very ugly. He'd had Ino, Kiba, and Akamaru back off a bit, in case something ended up going wrong. Every bit of logic and reason he possessed was telling him to go back inside and get his student out of there, but at the same time, his instincts told him to trust in Naruto.

Following some fierce internal debate, he remembered that this was in fact Naruto he was dealing with, a topic to which logic and reason only rarely applied. His relief at seeing the blonde run out with a small girl over his shoulder who could only be Asuka was cut short when he caught the boy's expression. Sure enough, he handed over the little girl and a sealing scroll before dispelling into a cloud of smoke. A few seconds later, the jonin's ears picked up the sounds of an alarm going off.

At that point, he really would have charged in, but for the fact that he was still holding the little redhead, and the remaining replica was silently telling him no. What followed was close to twenty minutes of impatient waiting for all six of them, even the clone. Then an incredibly large chakra spike, a blindingly bright light, and an enormous perfectly semispherical crater where the base had been moments before.

Team seven was moving in under a second, full speed to the center. Arriving well before the others, Asuma found a completely naked Naruto lying face-up on the dirt. He quickly removed his jonin vest and draped it over the boy's body for a bit of privacy, before the others caught up.

The jonin used the time to do a quick analysis of the situation. Obviously, Naruto had just released a tremendous amount of chakra from his body all in one go, but it was on a level he had never heard of before. The crater was perfectly smooth and round; the energy hadn't exploded, it had simply destroyed everything in its range except for its source, then dissipated. Based on the disturbed state of the earth around the young ninja's body, he had fallen straight down out of midair, undoubtedly from the exact center of the blast. That he was entirely unharmed by the impact was a testament to his body's unbelievable toughness.

Sure enough, the rest of the team got there just moments later. The blonde boy's clone, now holding Asuka, decided to stay back a bit once he saw what was going on, for the little girl's sake. The lazy cigarette addict could see the two of them playing in the dirt a little ways away.

"Naruto!" Ino shouted out, in an equal mix of joy and worry, seeing his still form.

"Will he be okay, Asuma-sensei?" Kiba asked. "What happened to him? And just what the hell was that light?"

He looked down at the short boy thoughtfully. There were two general possibilities he could think of, one of which would be a minor inconvenience while the other could be a major problem, and until something happened to prove otherwise, the jonin decided to go with the better one "My guess is that he's done something incredibly stupid that wore him out, and he'll wake up once he's res-"

Shit

So much for wishful thinking; he could barely pick up a slow but steady rise of demonic chakra in the blonde's body.

Swiftly, he turned to the team kunoichi. "Ino, Naruto is in shock. No time to go into detail, but you need to enter his mind and do whatever you have to to snap him out of it as fast as you can."

"W-what? Sensei, you always forbid me fro-"

Damn it, he didn't have time for this. With Naruto in such a mentally weak state, the Kyuubi had nothing to stop it from taking complete control, and if that happened they were all as good as dead.

"Now Yamanaka!"

This was why he was never totally serious unless the situation was totally serious. His shout, combined with the use of her family name, made the girl spring into action.

"**Omoi Shinnryuu no Jutsu"** (mind entry jutsu)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ino found herself ankle-deep in sewer water. "So this is Naruto's mind? The place is a mess. And where is he?" Usually, when entering a mind, the mind's owner would be right there in front of you, but her fellow blonde was nowhere to be seen.

Just like him to unconsciously break such a basic rule. Anyway, the fact that the mind could only exist around its owner was something that not even the unpredictable knucklehead could get around, so he couldn't be far. She trudged down the dark sewer.

Not for the first time since being put on a team with the boy, the kunoichi wondered just what the hell was going on. Asuma-sensei had said he was in shock, then ordered her to do something about it immediately; it didn't make sense. When in a severely damaged state, a mind needed to be treated gently and carefully, or there could be irreparable damage. And she'd never seen the man that serious before, either.

On top of that, Ino had no way of knowing what had happened to her teammate. Somehow, he'd done something that had completely obliterated everything in the area while leaving the boy untouched, but shock was a type of mental damage, not physical, so something else must have happened as well, something extreme, to render the strong-willed ninja dead to the world.

In the dim lighting, she could make out a hunched figure up ahead. Moving closer, the girl recognized Naruto's orange jacket and blonde hair. He was crouched down in the water, his back to her, mumbling something she couldn't make out over and over again.

Ino walked toward him slowly. "Naruto?"

No answer.

"Naruto, can you hear me?" she asked, a bit louder this time.

He still didn't react to her presence.

From this distance, the girl could make out his quiet words:

"...dead... ...all dead... ...killed them... ...killed her... ...couldn't stop... ...didn't deserve it... ...helped me... ...tried to save her... ...couldn't... ...dead... ...all dead..."

The blue-eyed girl stopped. By this time, she had made her way in front of him and could see what the boy was doing. He was staring at his hands, which were coated in blood, and he was holding a kunai in his mouth, able to talk clearly around the metal because so many of the usual rules of life didn't apply inside the mind. With a slow, methodical motion, he used the sharp weapon to cut off his own hands at the wrists, continuing to gaze lifelessly at them as they fell into the water with a soft plop. Seconds later, a new pair of hands, just as bloody, grew where the old ones had been, and he repeated the cycle.

Asuma-sensei was right; he needed to be forced out of this as quickly as possible.

She tried shouting. She tried waving her arms around in front of him. She tried gentle hitting and slapping. Eventually, she got frustrated and tried physically stopping him, but his body might as well have been made of metal for all she was able to move it.

After what felt like forever, attempting anything and everything she could think of, Ino came down to her last resort. Reminding herself that it meant nothing, that she was just doing what was necessary to help her friend and teammate, the girl moved her face up against his own, lips touching. For a moment, nothing happened, then, slowly, instinct took over, and the boy's jaw loosened, the kunai slipping into the water with that same soft plop.

She kissed him.

The moment Naruto started to react, she drew back swiftly. There was life in his eyes again, and confusion. "Ino-chan? What? What happened?"

The boy picked up on his surroundings, and the confusion morphed into anger, then panic. "No, you're... You're not supposed to be here. What are you doing here? Get out!" Then she felt it, another presence in the dark sewer with them. Something powerful and evil, closing in on them rapidly. "GET OUT! NOW!"

The Yamanaka was then hurled from his mind so forcefully that her body in the physical world actually flew backwards about fifteen yards. Sitting up dazedly, she could see Naruto doing the same. It had worked, good. Suddenly feeling drained and tired, she fell back and closed her eyes.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba just wanted to know what the hell was going on and was getting irritated being repeatedly left out of the loop. First, Asuma-sensei had sent Naruto off alone and given him some secret orders. Then, they'd had to wait around for forever while the short blonde did whatever it was. After that, there'd been that giant explosion and his unconscious teammate right in the middle of it. And something had really freaked out the cigarette-smelling jonin to the point where he'd shouted at Ino, who had done what he asked, only to be blasted away by what seemed like nothing.

Adding to his frustration, the other boy was taking forever to recover, instead of his usual near-instant speed. Clearly not yet fully aware of what was going on around him, Naruto looked up at the man. "Is... is Ino-chan okay?"

"Yeah, just tired." Asuma-sensei had taken a moment to check her over while the boy was orienting himself.

"And everyone else?" he asked.

"Everyone's all right," the man comforted him. "What happened?"

Looking on, Kiba saw the change in his friend's eyes. They went from concerned to a deep sadness and regret. "I... I was just so angry, after seeing what they were doing... I just... I started killing everyone. Because I could.

"And then, there was this one girl, can't even remember what she looked like, just that she was there. She, she saved me. Made me stop. Then It... It started taking over." Something about the way the blonde said "It," in an important sort of manner, and with a level of hatred and detest he would have never expected from the blonde, made the dog-boy think of the word with a capital I.

"She saved me again, brought me back to myself. But there was just so much chakra in me, the only thing I could do was to force it out all in one go. I tried... I tried to protect her, to keep her safe, but I failed, and I killed her. All of them, I killed..."

Then Kiba saw his teammate do one of the very few things he would never, ever have thought he'd see him do. Naruto started crying, weeping in sadness. He wanted to go to his friend, to offer some sort of comfort, but Asuma-sensei was already there, and the man gave him a look telling him it would be better to stay away for now.

So he went to see how Ino was doing. And that little red-headed girl. He'd recognized the child's scent right away as the one he'd been tracking when they were ambushed; it was a weird coincidence how she turned out to be the only survivor. He could see the little kid off a ways with the clone of her rescuer, playing in the dirt as though nothing had happened. The kage bunshin was also clearly enjoying himself, smiling and laughing as he kept the girl entertained. If he were to guess, they were probably trying to distract themselves and keep their minds off of the horrors they had gone through recently; bah, Ino was the one who was good with all that psychological stuff, not him.

The flower-scented kunoichi, however, was still sleeping. Whatever had happened while she was using her jutsu must have taken a whole lot out of her, because she had been perfectly fine, physically at least, not fifteen minutes ago, before that crazy explosion.

The Inuzuka had never heard of, much less seen, anything like it before. Everything for several hundred yards in all directions just... gone, swallowed up by that light. Everything but Naruto, anyway. Even the scents of everything in the blast had vanished, leaving the whole area with an odd lack of smell. It was really unsettling to both him and Akamaru.

His thinking was interrupted when team seven's only female member started to wake up. On seeing her stirring, Kiba immediately went to her side. "Hey, Ino. How you feeling?"

She spent about a second getting her bearings. "I'll be all right. But I'm worried about Naruto; there's something seriously wrong with him."

"Yeah, I know," he responded, thinking back to how the strong, determined boy had been acting. "He was crying."

"No, it's not that! There's... something else..." Ino protested, before trailing off into silence. She smelled afraid.

"Something else? You mean something in his mind?" It wasn't hard to guess, with how strict Asuma-sensei had always been about the kunoichi not using her jutsu on the other blonde.

She nodded, confirming his suspicion. "Yeah, I don't know what it is, but it's dark... and evil..." The fear scent coming from the girl intensified.

Something else came to Kiba's mind at that moment, something Akamaru had told him about the fight on the bridge in Wave. Whatever it was Naruto had done back then, it had terrified his partner so much he refused point-blank to describe it in any sort of detail.

But what could it be? How long had it been there? Why hadn't he told them? Just how dangerous wa it?

The small white dog interrupted them with an angry bark. "Grrff! /_He's your friend! You want to know something about him, _ask him_! Standing here doubting a friend is disrespectful to the bond you have with him!_/"

That snapped him out of his current train of thought faster than he could blink. "Akamaru's right. We need to talk to him about this before we start jumping to conclusions."

Both young ninja shared a guilty expression, having been in the process of just that. He helped Ino to her feet, and they walked over to their other two teammates, Naruto now dressed in an extra set of clothes he must have brought with him, as well as his usual jacket. As they approached, a bit of conversation floated to their ears.

"...have to tell them. I was going to suggest you do it sometime in the next few weeks, but after this, you know they'll have questions." Apparently they had been discussing the exact same topic.

Then, for the first time in all his years of knowing the blonde, Kiba heard panic in Naruto's voice. "But... But what if they don't understand? What if they're afraid of me! What if-"

Faster than any of the genin could follow, Asuma-sensei buried his fist in the boy's stomach. "Have some faith in your teammates!" he roared. "They know you and care about you, so the least you could do is trust them. Now calm down and talk to them. While you're doing that, I'm going to look over everything you grabbed out of the base."

The boy nodded, then turned around. His eyes widened in surprise on seeing his friends only a few yards away. That the unusually alert blonde hadn't noticed them was proof of just how distracted he was. "Hey guys. So I guess you have some questions; it'd probably be easier if you just let me talk first, and save anything you want to ask for the end."

Kiba could tell by his expression and the end of the conversation they had just overheard that this was going to be hard for his friend so he nodded, Ino doing the same next to him.

"Everyone knows about the time almost thirteen years ago now when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, and the Yondaime gave his life to stop it." The way he was talking, it had the feel of something that had been rehearsed over and over again. "Stop. That's the key word there, because the Kyuubi is just too powerful to be killed outright."

By this point, the dog boy had a pretty good idea of where this was headed, but there could be something else he didn't know about, so he stayed quiet.

"He sealed the demon into a newborn baby. It had to be a baby, because the only thing strong enough to hold something that powerful was a human being, and anyone older, their body would've rejected the sealing." Now, Kiba couldn't even try to deny it. He knew his friend's birthday and suddenly felt blind for not having seen the truth all along.

"Apparently, the Yondaime's dying wish was for me to be treated as a hero for holding back the beast." He'd of course picked up on the way much of the village treated Naruto. Definitely not hero treatment.

"When the opposite happened, Jiji made a law that no one was allowed to talk about the demon being sealed in me. He did it so that the children, our generation, wouldn't hate me just like the adults. I guess it kinda worked, I mean, you two didn't hate me. But no one really liked me either."

Kiba felt even more ashamed of himself for how he'd acted around the blonde all their years at the Academy. He'd just laughed at his idiocy and his impossible dreams before writing him off and ignoring him. To think he'd had no friends, no family, no one there for him at all most of the time... It was no wonder he had been the way he was.

"I didn't know about the fox either, back then, not until the night I graduated. Mizuki-teme threw it in my face right before he tried to kill me. Right after I found out, I almost gave up, on my dreams, on being Hokage, everything. At that point, I would've either killed myself or started killing everyone else, but Iruka-sensei saved me. He talked, and believed in me, and that belief brought me back." By now, his words had lost that dull, rehearsed quality, instead filled with such a variety of powerful emotions that his listeners were unable to pick out anything specific.

"But that's not everything." What the hell? There was more? Hadn't Naruto been through enough? "Since I've told you this much, I might as well tell you the rest. Remember our mission to Wave country, the fight on the bridge? When I thought you," here he looked directly at Kiba for a moment, "had died, I... I gave in to the fox. It's always there, you see, like a little voice whispering... No, that's not right, it's more feelings and emotions that are inside my head, but not mine, _wrong_. My whole life, I've always been denying it, forcing it down, usually without even thinking about it."

As the young Inuzuka listened, he grew angry. Not at his friend, but at the world. For someone to have to go through all that, _constantly _just because... What, because he'd been born at the wrong time? But Naruto wasn't done yet.

"But when that happened, I was so angry that I couldn't bring myself to care. The Kyuubi's power flooded me and... changed me. It made me cruel, violent, sadistic, and strong. The feeling was intoxicating. But again I was saved, this time by that boy, Haku. Seeing him there brought me back to my senses. When I went back to think on what happened, it scared me. I mean, what was to stop me from using the demon's power again, possibly hurting someone I care about, or worse?"

Kiba wanted to tell him to stop, that he'd heard enough, and he could see Ino in the same state next to him. They could tell by their friend's tone of voice that whatever was coming next would just make things that much more painful, but they'd promised, so they stayed silent.

"Asuma-sensei suggested I try to get in contact with the beast through meditation. Remember when we learned that? Well, it worked, and you know all those stories the Kyuubi how it's so big and powerful, they don't get it. The fox could've destroyed Konoha twelve years ago just by slamming its paws into the ground and adding some chakra, if it had felt like it.

"But the Kyuubi didn't want to destroy Konoha; the furry bastard is a lot more complex and intelligent than that. It's also the most self-centered, arrogant, egotistical being in the whole world. Basically, a few thousand years ago, the fox decided it didn't like its original body and started work on making a better one, manipulating people into having kids with the traits it wanted. Apparently, I was the end result of all this, and the real reason behind the demon's attack was that it wanted to be sealed in me." The boy sighed deeply, then was silent, inviting them to ask questions. Kiba needed more time to absorb it all, though, make sure he understood everything, before he was ready to say anything.

The team kunoichi didn't. "Naruto, I'm sorr-"

"SHUT UP!" he screamed, instantly becoming furious, "I don't fucking want your pity!"

"Well then what do you want?" she shouted back. It looked like the girl was going to say more, but the blue-eyed boy's mood switched again.

"What do I want? What do I want, you ask? What I want, more than anything else in the world, is to be able to live an ordinary life. Quiet, peaceful, happy, with a small family who loves me and who I love in return. But that's the one thing I'll never, _ever_, be able to have, all because some giant furball decided it wanted to be stuffed in my gut. Since I can't have what I want, I want to make the best of what I have. And what I have is you guys, Konoha, being a ninja."

After that, Ino was the one being quiet and thoughtful, while it had settled the Inuzuka's mind enough that he felt able to say something. "You know what, Naruto? I don't really care. I don't care if you've got a demon sealed in you, or if you're some kind of super-human, or whatever. You're still you." Akamaru barked an agreement.

The other boy smiled. "Thanks, Kiba, Akamaru."

Asuma-sensei came over then, taking them out of the moment. "I see you told them," he commented after a moment. "How much?"

"Everything about me," Naruto answered simply.

The jonin looked serious again. "Listen. There's some stuff in here," he waved the sealing scroll in his hand slightly, "that needs to get back to Konoha as fast as possible. I'm going to have to leave you four to make your own way back; be sure to stop in at Nobiru and tell them the mission results along the way." Then he took on a more concerned expression. "Will you be okay?" The question was directed at all of them. The genin of team seven nodded in unison. "Good." He smiled, then vanished in a blur of speed.

The ramen-and-fox-scented boy (finally, his scent made sense) took charge as usual, after a moment. "Let's get going. If you want to continue our conversation, I can have my kage bunshin and Asuka-chan stay behind us a bit." The little redhead and blonde clone were still playing, oblivious to everything else around them.

"Yeah, that would be good," Ino said. A couple minutes later, they were leaping through the treetops back to the town.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hey, Naruto," Ino turned to her fellow blonde, leaping along beside her, "I'm sorry about the way I reacted when you first told us. It's just that... I wasn't my parents' first child. They married young and had a boy soon after. He died during the Kyuubi attack. So because of the fox, I never got a chance to know my older brother. When you said it was sealed inside you, I-"

He cut her off. "Ino, it's fine. There's no need to apologize."

His words said one thing, but everything else about the boy was telling her the opposite. The fact that he was no longer using the -_chan_ suffix, as he had the last two times he'd addressed her, was enough evidence by itself.

She probably deserved it, though, after violating his mind, then doubting him as she had. Her worst mistake, though, was probably trying to pity him. For someone like Naruto, who had achieved everything he had in life through constant hard work and determination, pity was probably worse than hatred. However, there was one thing she still wanted to know.

"If you don't mind," she asked, hesitatingly, "what happened in the base?" The kunoichi saw Kiba, up in front leading the way, perk up a bit. Apparently he was just as interested.

The orange-clad boy hesitated a moment. "...You know how they were doing human experiments?" he began quietly. She nodded. "I can't really convey what it was like in there with just words. The people were suffering, wouldn't be able to live outside of that lab. They were barely even alive as it was." He glanced behind him briefly, making sure the little girl and his kage bunshin were well out of hearing range. "They begged me to kill them, to end their pain... And I did. Those were the lucky ones.

"As for the rest... It seems the researchers discovered something about me, specifically my blood. Injecting it into other people... changes them. Probably something that damn fox did to me. The ones that survived mutated into insane monsters. Effectively, every singe 'test subject' as they called them, was dead. All except Asuka-chan. A thousand and seventy six regular, innocent people dead, several hundred of them directly because of me."

The Yamanaka remembered what she heard him mumbling in his mind. But Naruto still had more. "When I saw her locked up in a small metal room, crying, I managed to keep myself together just long enough to make sure she was safe. Then I, I guess it must be something else the Kyuubi did, not really sure, I turned into this sort of fox myself. I was still me, but wild, primal, powerful. I took my time slaughtering everyone still alive in the base. I had _fun_... hunting them. I didn't even notice as the demon started slipping its chakra into me." He looked to be sickened and disgusted with himself.

"Just like all the other times, I was saved at the last minute. There was this girl, one of the kunoichi, she... She managed to reach out to me, somehow, bring me back to myself. But the Kyuubi, it was so close to freedom, it wasn't about to give up. I remember fighting it, but everything was so confusing...

"I think I was losing, till that same girl came and helped me, supported me. The fox's chakra was already spread throughout my body, though. My only option was to force it all out of me in one burst. I tried to protect her, to keep her safe, but I couldn't, and... I can't even remember her face, or voice, just that she was there." He lapsed into silence.

For a while, no one said anything; there really wasn't anything to say after that. After several minutes, Kiba spoke. "We're almost at the town." The reminder of their destination served to draw both blondes from their respective thoughts. Naruto glanced behind him briefly. "Ino, you should probably be the one to give the report to the mayor."

"Why me?" she asked.

Her answer came from their third teammate up ahead. "Cause Naruto and I would end up doing something to insult the old guy, either by accident or on purpose, and he can't understand Akamaru. You're the best at all that proper manners stuff anyway."

They had a point, and it helped that the boys had just admitted to being socially inept morons. "Fine, I'll do it. But how much do you think I should say?"

The other blonde grinned at her. "That's easy. Just tell him that we took care of the problem, but unfortunately all the kidnapped people were already dead," he responded in a far-too-cheery tone of voice.

"That sounds okay... Wait, _all_?" It had taken a moment to register his use of that particular word.

"All. Asuka-chan's coming with us, and this way there'll be a lot less problems." For a moment, his blue eyes flashed a stern, serious look at her, the one that always told Ino just how great a Hokage he would be someday. There was no arguing with him when he got like that.

"All right, got it," she said submissively.

He instantly reverted to the overly cheery state. "Good. While you're doing that, Asuka-chan and I need to go over to the orphanage to say goodbye to everyone there. Meet you at the main entrance, say, an hour and a half after we get there?" It was a bit disturbing sometimes how he could change moods so quickly and completely.

"Sounds good to me." The last ten minutes of traveling were spent on casual conversation, and Naruto even had his clone bring Asuka over (finally allowing it to dispel) to introduce the redhead to them.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The three genin, all exhausted mentally, emotionally, and physically, decided to take their time heading back to Konoha.

The first night, Asuka-chan woke up screaming.

Ino had warned him this might happen, so he had stayed nearby, and rushed to the little girl's side as fast as he could. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here, everything's gonna be okay."

The little girl clung to him tightly and started weeping into his shoulder. "O-Oniisan, they, they were gonna-"

"It was just a dream, Asuka-chan, just a bad dream. They're gone now; the bad people can't hurt you anymore, remember?" Though he'd never comforted a terrified child before, other than himself, Naruto found that the words he needed seemed to come to him naturally.

"Bu-but Oniisan, it was so scary, and it hurt so much..."

"Everything'll be okay. You're gonna come live with me now, remember? And I promise I'll never let anyone hurt you ever again, okay? You'll be safe and happy." That reminder seemed to finish calming her down. The sweet redhead had been so excited when he'd first told her, and the way she'd smiled when saying her goodbyes at the orphanage... No, _nothing_ was going to stop him from giving her the happiness she deserved.

"Feeling better?" She nodded. "Good. Now go back to sleep, and think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts will keep the nightmares away." At least that was what he'd always heard. It had never actually worked for the blonde, but then again, most people didn't have sadistic, powerful fox demons trying to break their minds apart.

"O-okay," she yawned, "goodnight, Naruto-oniisan."

"Goodnight, Asuka-chan." The little girl was asleep before he even finished talking.

Checking on the others, he saw that they had, fortunately, not been woken up by the screams. A testament to just how exhausted they must have been. Speaking of exhausted, it was about time for him to be getting to bed as well. Making a group of kage bunshin to take the late night watch, he laid down on his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. Tomorrow, they'd be back home in Konoha...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Finally, the whole of team seven was back in the Hokage's office. And the he was definitely acting as the Hokage now, not the kind grandfatherly old man Naruto had known growing up. The three genin had just finished wit their individual reports on the mission. "Excellent work, all of you. You were thrust into a situation well beyond the capabilities of a genin team and were able to perform admirably, not only surviving, but acquiring valuable intel on a previously unknown enemy and destroying their base of operation here in Fire country. This will go down on your records as an S-class mission, and you will be paid accordingly. It is regrettable that so many died, but loss is something you need to be able to accept, as it is an inevitable part of the ninja world. Where is the young girl that survived, Asuka?"

"She's at my apartment with a kage bunshin," Naruto answered simply.

"Good. When you feel she is ready, I want her brought in for questioning. She might have heard something during her captivity-"

"Hell no." His teammates let out quiet gasps, and he could see Asuma-sensei's eyes widen slightly in the corner if his vision.

The Sandaime's eyes flashed dangerously. "Care to repeat that, Naruto?"

The young ninja mentally gulped; he'd seen the possibility of this coming but hadn't really thought much on it. Well, if he really wanted to be the greatest of the Hokages, he'd need to be able to stand up to other leaders. He called on every scrap of confidence and knowledge he had before returning the powerful man's gaze, not willing to give an inch. "I said no, Hokage-sama. Asuka-chan has just gone through a heavily traumatic experience. She's six years old, and her life up till now was spent in an orphanage where she was abused, mistreated, and neglected. I promised her I would make sure she was happy, and I _will not_, under _any_ circumstances, force her to relive her time in that place."

He glared at this man he didn't know, blue eyes piercing unrelentingly into brown, until the man went away, the brown eyes softened, and the grandfather he'd known all his life was sitting there instead. "I'm sorry, Naruto; you're right. Making a child go through something like that is not the way we do things here in Konoha. Unfortunately, the information you brought back contains nothing about Youkaigakure itself, it's location, strength, or size. We did learn that similar bases to the one you found were established in nearly every country with a ninja village, and I have already sent out messages to the other kages and village heads alerting them to the situation. We have already received a response from Waterfall, saying that they found the facility, but that it had been cleaned out and abandoned sometime in the past two days. I fear the same mat be true of all the others. Regardless, we are no longer oblivious to the existence of this mysterious enemy and will remain on the lookout for any further moves they may make.

"One more thing. Ino, Kiba, I am sure Naruto has already told you both this, but I wish to impress upon you that the information you learned about him housing the Kyuubi during this mission is an S-class secret, and the reasons behind the fox's attack and all related topics a double S-class secret. Speaking of it in public, or to anyone who does not already know, will result in executiion. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed."

The others all left, but the blonde boy stayed exactly where he was. There was one more thing he wanted, no, _needed_, to talk to the old man about.

"Yes, Naruto? What is it?"

"Jiji, can we speak in private?" While he couldn't actually sense them, he knew there were ANBU in the room.

The aged Hokage made a slight hand gesture, and there was a slight shift in the air. "Very well. What was it you wanted to talk about?"

He wasn't really sure how to get to the topic in a roundabout way, besides, that wasn't really his style, so the boy decided to cut right to the chase. "Jiji, who were my parents?"

The old man sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I don't know-"

For the second time in fifteen minutes, the young ninja cut off his superior mid-sentence. "That line might've worked when I was seven, Jiji, but not now. Who were they, and why did you keep them a secret?"

The Sandaime sighed again, this time in defeat, before activating the privacy seals in the office. Naruto was really getting tired of every single aspect of his history being classified and hoped there wasn't anything else.

"Once I answer the first question, you will better understand the second, but I kept it from you for the same reason I kept the Kyuubi from you. I needed to know you would react responsibly."

React responsibly? What? "I've known about the fox almost six months now. Why didn't you tell me during that time? Hell, even just now you tried to lie your way around it!"

The old man's visage became sad. "I wanted to give you time to fully absorb the other things you had learned before placing more on you..." He paused, considering. "No, that was just my excuse. The truth is that I care about you, Naruto, and I know that this will cause you pain. I wanted to spare you that pain as long as possible, but..."

"Jiji, thank you, really. But I've been dealing with pain my whole life, and I'm sure there'll be more of it ahead, too. If I can know this about myself, I couldn't care less if it hurts." He wasn't about to let the closest thing he had to a grandfather put this off any longer.

"All right, I will tell you about your father first, as the situation in that case is much simpler. You might very well have suspected this yourself from time to time, considering the striking physical similarities between the two of you, but your father..." He paused, and his deep brown eyes darted to the side for a moment. Naruto followed, and it was really all he needed, as his own eyes were immediately drawn to the photograph on the wall of the man with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes.

His mouth fell open in shock, and his brain shut down momentarily as it worked to process all the implications of the Yondaime being his father.

"He left you this letter." The blonde accepted the offered envelope automatically, still trying to wrap his mind around the concept. On the front, in a hasty but neat scrawl, was one word. Naruto. He turned it over.

"That's a blood seal on the back, to make sure that no one but you could read it." Some part of him responded to the words by slicing his thumb open on one of his canines and spreading the red liquid across the marking. He took out the sheet of paper inside, seeing that it was written in the same hand as his name.

"_Hello Naruto, son. I won't be able to say as much as I'd like here, but people are dying every second to give me the time to write this. It may be selfish and not very Hokage-like of me, but I'm not going to leave my only child withot saying anything to him. I'm sorry for what you'll probably have to go through as a result of what I'm about to do, but please always remember that I believe in you. I can only hope the people of Konoha will believe in you as well, but it is far more likely that you will have to earn that belief, working through scorn, mistrust, hatred, and hardship. Still, I believe you can do it. You've been in this world for all of three hours, and already I can tell that you'll grow to be great one day. This isn't the life I wanted for you, but the choice seems to be out of my hands. Always know that your mother and I love you with all our heart, body, and mind._

_Your father,_

_Namikaze Minato_"

"Thanks, Dad." He smiled. Somehow, his father had known exactly what words he would need, nearly thirteen years in the future.

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and turned to the old man once more. "And my mom?"

The aged Hokage sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day, sadly this time. Remembering what he had said about his mother being more complicated, the boy tried to brace himself for whatever was to come next. "Your mother... Your mother fell into a coma immediately after giving birth to you. The doctors gave up hope of her ever awakening years ago and she is kept in a secret room within the Hokage monument, hiding her continued existence to prevent any possible assassination attempts. Would you like to see her?"

Not trusting his voice, Naruto simply nodded.

The Sandaime rose. "This way, then." He followed, the letter from his father still clutched tightly in his hand.

It did make sense now, not telling him when he was younger. Had the old Naruto learned he had the Yondaime as a father, he would've run around shouting it out for the world to hear. That would've caused more problems than he could count and likely gotten him killed in the process.

At present, the boy was just happy to know that he had had loving parents, no matter how briefly, not people who had abandoned him, or turned away in disgust, as he had always feared.

That happiness died away, though, after the Hokage channeled chakra into an unassuming section of stone wall, which slid away to reveal a room containing a red-haired woman, lying asleep on a bed, multiple wires and machines hooked up to her.

This was his mother.

Even had he not already known who she was, some part of him would have recognized her instinctively, as she laid there sleeping.

Her body was, miraculously, still the toned, lightly-muscled form held by nearly all top-grade kunoichi, and she looked so peaceful, like she was just taking a nap and might awaken any moment.

Why hadn't she? Why was she just lying there, sleeping, all these years?

All these years, the countless times Naruto had needed someone. Wasn't that what a mother did? Wasn't it her job? To be there for him.

But instead she'd been here, not caring, doing nothing as her only son went through pain and suffering. A woman like that...

She was no mother! Someone like that didn't deserve to live! He needed to correct this mistake, now!

But an unbreakable grip tightened around his wrist, stopping him from plunging the kunai he held into her heart. With a growl, he turned to face whoever it was trying to stop him from delivering the punishment this woman so rightly deserved...

And found himself staring into ancient, wise brown eyes, eyes holding both anger and concern at the same time. "Naruto," Hokage-jiji said sternly. He released his grip on the deadly weapon, the sound of metal clattering against stone briefly joining the repetitive beeps of the medical instruments.

Turning to face his mother once more, calmer now, he looked at her again.

Unlike the boy had first thought, she wasn't peaceful, not at all. In fact, he could see now that she was in terrible pain. What had he been about to do? She hadn't wanted this any more than he did! And to think he had almost...

Yanking his arm free, he threw himself on his mother's comatose body, sobbing. "Mom, I'm sorry! Please don't be mad at me, Mom! I love you! Mother, please get up! Come on, get up! Mom! Mom. Mommy..."

He lost track of time. Once he finally let go, Naruto's eyes were red, dry, and hurting from the years of built-up tears he'd finally let out. His throat was hoarse from screaming, shouting, talking, and whispering. His nose was in pain from the constant sniffling. His ears were partially deaf from the echos of his own voice and the incessant sounds of the machines. His body was stiff from being in such an awkward position for such a long time. And his stomach was reminding him that it was well past time for food.

A comforting arm wrapped around him. "Come on, let's go get you several bowls of nice hot ramen from Ichiraku. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Yeah. Ramen sounded nice.

He heard Hokage-jiji's voice again. "Place your hand on that seal in front of you and channel some chakra. That way, you can come to visit her whenever you want."

He did so, and they left.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Teuchi was quite surprised by the two people who came into his ramen stand. Not that either was an infrequent visitor, but it had been years since they'd been here together. "Hello, Hokage-sama, Naruto. What can I get you this evening?"

"Eighteen bowls of miso ramen with beef for me, Ichiraku-ojiisan!" Ahh, that kid truly was his best customer...

"The same for me, but only a single bowl," came the order from Sandaime-sama.

He turned to the back of the store. "Ayame! You heard them, we have work to do!"

Looking back at the blonde, he could see that Naruto wasn't quite his usual peppy upbeat self, though the boy seemed to be trying to hide it. He gave a questioning glance to Hokage-sama.

He felt a slight surge of chakra before the aged leader spoke, undoubtedly activating the privacy seals in the restaurant. "I told him about his parents, and we just came from seeing his mother." Ah, that explained it.

Although no longer a ninja, the old ramen chef was one of the few people, and by extension, Ayame, to have the Hokage's complete trust in matters concerning Naruto.

"Um, Jiji..." The boy was clearly worried about security issues.

Ayame came over with Hokage-sama's bowl and the blonde's first two bowls.

Teuchi decided to assuage his concerns. "Your mom used to come here as often as you do, Naruto, and she'd usually drag your dad along with her. The man was eventually spending so much time here that he installed some privacy seals so he could get his work done. When they're active, anyone outside the curtains just hears an indistinct mix of voices. Sorry I never told you, but I figured it would be best if you heard it from Sarutobi-sama."

Blue eyes, so like his father's, widened in disbelief. "You knew my parents? What were they like? Can you tell me about them?" Ah, yes. He'd also inherited his mom's gift of being able to talk at a million mile an hour in an unbelievably loud voice.

"Hey, calm down, or you'll spill your ramen!" That always worked, thankfully. "Now, what do you know already?"

"Not much. Dad was the Yondaime, so I know a little about him from that, but nothing about what he was like as a person. And all I know about Mom is that she's in a coma." The ramen chef listened intently as he got to work making the next part of the boy's meal.

"All right, I'll start with your mom then. Her name was... _is_ Uzumaki Kushina. Officially, she gave you her family name, in place of her son, who died during childbirth. Really, though, anyone who knew Kushina-chan would have to be blind and deaf to not pick up the resemblance between you two right away.

"Just like you, she was always open, assertive, optimistic, and stubborn to an extreme, usually ate more ramen in a day than most would in a month, and was the only ninja in the village who could fight evenly against your dad."

"Wait a sec, so _both_ my parents were super-awesome ninja? Cool!" The blonde's joy on learning this little fact had him bouncing up and down on his stool, threatening to spill his ramen yet again.

He stepped away from the stove briefly to place a firm hand on the boy's shoulder, forcing him to sit still. "Pretty much. Your mom wasn't actually born in Konoha, though." Naruto gave him a confused look. "The country she was originally from, Uzu no Kuni, was destroyed... ...by the Kyuubi."

The young ninja gave a hate-filled glare at his stomach. "Damn fox," he muttered.

Hokage-sama, having finished his ramen (Naruto was now on his third bowl, eating more slowly than normal because he was too busy listening) decided to take over. "Kushina was, as far as we know, the only survivor, and she never talked much about her old home, even to Minato..."

As evening turned into night, the two older men told the boy more about his parents. Between the two of them, there were enough stories to last for weeks nonstop, so they made no effort to rush. Ayame listened in too, curious about the people who had given birth to her little brother.

Eventually, Naruto's insatiable thirst for knowledge of two people he had wanted to know his entire life slacked off a little bit. "Hey Jiji, I was wondering... Besides all of us, who else knows about my parents?"

Sandaime-sama paused to think. "Hmm... Well, I can't say how many people might have guessed it, but the only ones who know for certain outside this ramen stand are Asuma, of course, my student Jiraiya... ...And Gai."

"Gai?" Ayame asked in confusion

"Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked in wonderment.

"_Maito_ Gai?" Teuchi asked in shock.

"Yes," Sarutobi-sama answered simply. "Immediately after his very first training session with young Naruto, the man burst into my office, shouting something about Naruto's flames of youth blazing with the same intensity as his father's." Everyone shuddered. "What he meant, I think, is that he recognized Naruto's natural ability and preferences in taijutsu to be exactly the same as his father's and figured it out from there. Fortunately, I had been in the middle of... something important at the time, and as such the ANBU were out and the security seals up."

The old ramen vendor could easily guess just what that "something important" was.

Naruto glared. "You were looking at porn again, weren't you. Jiji.?"

Teuchi retorted without thinking. "Icha Icha Paradise is a great work of literature! Just because you aren't old enough to appreciate it yet..." Feeling a strong killing intent coming from right behind him, the man turned around slowly. "Now now, Ayame, Dad was just joking... Umm..."

He shared a look of panic with the Sandaime. With Ayame on one side, and Naruto-the-Pervert-Hater on the other, they were effectively trapped.

Then the blonde froze momentarily for no apparent reason, and his eyes widened for a fraction of a second. "Shit! I gotta get going! My kage bunshin just dispelled, and if Asuka-chan realizes I haven't really been there all day, I'm gonna be in a shitload of trouble! Sorry to run! Thanks! And Ayame-neechan, make sure you take extra special care of these two for me!" He dashed off, and the deadly gleam in the eyes of the girl holding the hot ladle was enough to tell them that she took his parting request seriously.

"So, Sarutobi-sama, any chance you could tell us who this 'Asuka-chan' is while we're still alive?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Whew. Talk about an eventful day. Fortunately for his sake, Naruto had gotten back just in time to keep the little redhead from suspecting anything. After putting her to bed (the kage bunshin had built a miniature bed for the girl during the day, using wood he had cut from a nearby tree), the boy crawled under his own bed and pried up the loose floorboard that hid his diary. He had originally meant the spot as a place to keep anything important to him that couldn't be with him 24/7, but until now, nothing but the diary had fit that category.

Diary wasn't quite the right word for it, at least not in the usual sense like the diaries girls supposedly kept. It was just something to write in on the rare occasion he couldn't express himself publicly for whatever reason, or whenever having things written down would help him sort them out in his mind. The earliest entries, from when he was really little, were mostly near-illegible scratches on torn bits of newspaper that he'd attached in the front section of the book later on with some string.

Recently, ever since he became a genin, he'd found himself using the diary a lot more often. Understandable, considering all the secrets he learned since then. Tonight, though, there was a whole lot he wanted to write about, going all the way back to their recent mission. The book never left his apartment for safety reasons, of course, so he usually had a bit to say after coming back from an out-of-village mission, but this time...

A couple hours later, he finished, placed the book and the letter under the loose floorboard, and went to bed for his usual four hours of sleep. Hopefully, the nightmares wouldn't be too bad tonight...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

Longest chapter yet. Originally, the beginning, up through Ino in Naruto's mind, was supposed to be the end of the last chapter, but after writing the first scene I realized it didn't fit in at all and moved it to the start of this chapter, made a few small changes and additions, and ended up with what you see here.

The bit with Naruto cutting off his hands over and over again was originally supposed to be a direct rip-off from Shakespeare of repeatedly washing his hands, but that was too... tame... a thing for my Naruto to be doing. Hence the self-dismemberment.

The part after that, with Kiba, before the Kyuubi reveal segment, was extremely hard to write for some reason and was mostly responsible for how long the chapter took to come out. As for the Kyuubi reveal itself, I briefly considered skipping over it with a scene break so that readers wouldn't have to read the same thing they've read hundreds of times before again, but decided against it because, in addition to there being more to tell than just the usual "I've got he Kyuubi, lalala," I wanted to try and show Ino and Kiba's reactions to the information as they found out. That didn't work to well in the end, but I'd already written it and didn't feel like just getting rid of it.

Then there was the Asuka nightmare scene, which wasn't originally planned but I felt it needed to be there for a variety of reasons, most importantly to actually put her in the chapter in some way.

I had intended to include a further scene from Ino's point of view, where she was telling the mayor of Nobiru the news, but it would've done nothing except take up unnecessary space and time.

For the most part, I tried to give both Ino and Kiba about equal time in the spotlight during the first half of the chapter, as the later half was reserved for Naruto. Not too sure I did a very good job with that, as even when I'm writing from their points of view, it feels like I'm still focusing a lot more on Naruto than I am on the two of them. Yes, he is the main character, but I want the other two to have some substance as well.

Also, you might notice how Naruto is sad about having no memory of Isami's appearance. In the previous chapter, I purposely made no physical description of her for this very reason.

Moving on to the stuff back in Konoha, about the way the Sandaime acted concerning Asuka, my idea was to kind of show that, as he's getting old, he's having more trouble doing his job properly. Some readers will probably disagree with this bit, since the ninja villages are military institutions, where something like the questioning, possibly interrogation, of a child might very well happen if necessary to gain information. However, Konoha, or at least my version of Konoha, isn't like that.

Naruto's parents. I wonder how many people saw this coming, and how many forgot about that brief moment in chapter fifteen where he realized the Sandaime had lied about his parents. Anyway, his dad's the Yondaime, blah, blah, blah, hopefully people liked the letter, since it was different from the usual "I'm going to write out an intricate will, complete with a set of instructions for turning my son into a super-ninja, even though there's a Giant Evil Fox of Doom on my doorstep."

And Kushina. I bet no one saw that coming. Writing that scene was actually painful, and I had to take a break for about fifteen minutes to calm down before continuing. Not a lot else that needs to be said about it, except that it hopefully further showed just how extremely screwed up Naruto is psychologically. Also, two parts of what he says while crying are direct line steals from two different sources. Properly identify both, and you get an official Awesomeness Badge.

The scene in Ichiraku's was put in mostly to begin bringing the chapter to a close, showing Naruto after he's had time to let it all sink in. It was written from Teuchi's point of view mostly because I wanted something different, and he seemed to work best. And the humor was thrown in at the end to lighten the mood.

Finally, the diary. I know something like this should have been mentioned earlier, and the way I did it makes it seem to be just thrown in there out of nowhere. That's because I invented the diary idea while writing this chapter. It's there mostly to show another side of Naruto, so please try not to hate me for it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching965, Orion


	18. new faces and old

**chapter 18**

**new faces and old**

"So, the Chunin Exams. Sounds like fun, huh?" he asked his teammates with a wide grin.

"Naruto, we'll likely be fighting, possibly killing, lots of other young ninja, including our friends, just for a promotion," Ino reminded him, while throwing a straight kick at his chest.

He twirled to the side to dodge the blow. "Like I said, fun!"

"You have a very warped sense of fun." Another kick.

The boy pouted at her for an instant, before bending backwards under the attack, upper body now parallel to the ground, while keeping his legs in the same position. His right hand shot up and closed around his opponent's limb.

"We're good enough to win any fights without resorting to lethal force." Naruto used his grip to hurl her at a tree about ten yards away. "And you can't honestly tell me the thought of matching up against genin from other villages doesn't excite you at lest a little bit."

The kunoichi, now crouching on the side of the tree, extended her fist towards him, and a jet of water shot out of her arm. Damnit, she must've done the handseals while flying through the air. Ino's skill in mentally calling out her jutsu names could be damn annoying at times, and the fact that it reduced the jutsu's power didn't exactly make a difference at the moment. He threw himself to the side, landing on all fours. "Okay, you're right," she admitted, "I guess it will be kinda fun."

He would've said "I told you so" to the other blonde, but something else distracted him. Namely, the two Kibas closing in on him fast from both sides. When the hell did they escape from his wind prison?

Whatever. He jumped as high as he could, rocketing upwards to a height the others wouldn't be able to reach. Now that he had a free moment... "I told you so!" he shouted back down loudly enough for the girl to hear.

When he saw both of his friends going through handseals, Naruto realized he'd made a mistake.

"**Katon: Guokakyu no Jutsu"**

"**Raiton: Rakurai no Jotsu"** (lightning element: lightning bolt technique)

Damnit. With not being allowed to use kage bunshin in this spar, he had no way of maneuvering in the air, and any defensive wind jutsu he might've had time to perform would just backfire thanks to Ino's Guokakyu, and while a burst of unfocused chakra would disperse the fireball, it wouldn't do a thing against Kiba's heavily concentrated raiton. Wishing he could've found someone to teach him some earth jutsu, he reinforced his body with chakra to lessen the damage.

It still hurt like a bitch. He had asked for it, though, what with telling them not to hold back. Naruto landed solidly on his feet, ready for more.

"Okay, that's the match." Asuma-sensei walked over from his vantage point to the side. In unison, all three genin and the dog stared at him pleadingly. "You all agreed on first direct hit, so it's over."

Their combined stare continued.

The jonin gave in. "Fine, do whatever you want, but all the other rules stay the same." They smiled (well, Akamaru barked) before launching back into combat, silently agreeing to take things up a notch, which meant no more chitchat.

Naruto decided it was his turn to try a jutsu. Kiba's partner was back in his less dangerous canine form at the moment, and the blonde wanted to keep it that way as long as possible, which meant separating the two of them. After going through a string of handseals Asuma-sensei had taught him a bit before their last big mission, he pointed his palm at the pair.

"**Fuuton: Reppusho"** (wind element: violent wind palm)

The blonde had poured enough chakra into the attack that his targets couldn't risk getting hit, and he'd aimed right in between them. Not that he actually had time to watch, what with Ino coming at him as well from almost the exact opposite direction, but as he twisted to avoid a knife hand to his neck, he could sense them leaping away in different directions, followed the next second by the sound of exploding tree trunk as the compressed wind collided with the wood.

Now he needed to get the Yamanaka away from him, before all three of them teamed up. Naruto outclassed the others in taijutsu, sure, but not to the point where he could take on the coordinated attacks they'd start dishing out if given a chance. She threw a punch at his chest, and he saw his chance. Attaching his feet to the ground with chakra, he leaned into the strike, ignoring the sudden jolt of pain as it nearly broke some of his ribs, evidence of just how much chakra she must have put into it (thankfully not her special steam chakra, as that would've hurt a_ lot _more). Now, though, he had gotten right up inside her guard, in a perfect position for his counterattack, which was to drive his elbow into her abdomen as hard as he could. Not having anchored herself to the ground in the same fashion he had, the force of the blow threw her backwards a good distance.

The young ninja didn't have a chance to figure out just how much damage he'd done, though, because he had to spin around to meet Kiba and Akamaru. It was too much to hope Ino would be out of the fight, though, because while a blow like that would've had her unconscious back when they'd first graduated, all three genin had improved by leaps and bounds since then. Hopefully she'd need a few seconds to recover, if he was lucky.

Great. The Inuzuka duo were preparing a gatsuuga as they charged. From this distance, Kiba could react in time to any sort of jump or dodge, and he couldn't go low, because the dog was aiming for his ankles, and even though he was a lot smaller, the attack had enough power to do some serious damage.

Naruto took his only way out. He threw himself backwards, just barely going under his rapidly spinning teammate, lifted his feet off the ground and up into the air a bit to miss the rapidly spinning puppy, and caught himself on his hands, stretched as far to the sides as his arms would allow. From that position, he flipped himself up into the air in a backward somersault. Add in a twist, and he landed facing his three opponents.

"Nice dodge," the other boy complimented. He and his partner had already used the juujin bunshin.

"Thanks," he acknowledged, before rushing forward. Head-on like this, only one of them could attack him at a time, giving him the advantage.

Surprisingly, Akamaru was the first to come up to meet him, the dog's all-fours low-to-the-ground stance forcing the young ninja to crouch lower than normal himself. The transformed animal leapt at him, forelimbs extended and claws out, thrusting with his hind limbs for extra force. Something was weird; he had to know that wouldn't work. Oh well. Naruto grabbed the clawed hands, forcing his opponent's momentum to a complete stop. The claws dug into the back of his own hands, drawing blood, but he ignored it, instead opting to kick the dog, now pushing as hard as he could against the earth with clawed feet in a futile effort to force the boy back, in the face.

At least, he would've done that, but Ino had thrown a kunai right at his forehead. He had to tear himself away forcefully from his current engagement, throwing himself back and to the side to dodge the deadly weapon. Of course, he'd forgotten about the claws and almost screamed out in pain as they ripped through his hands.

He briefly assessed the damage and immediately ruled out any thoughts of countering with thrown weapons of his own right now. The claws had torn through not only flesh but a good bit of muscle as well. Like this, it would be impossible for him to be completely accurate with his throws, and that opened up the chance, no matter how remote, of accidentally hitting someone in a vital spot. He'd also be a bit slow on his handseals for the next couple minutes until it healed.

The other blonde hadn't just sit still after throwing her kunai, though. Before he knew it, she was right in his face, striking out with a vicious series of fast punches and kicks, each loaded with Ino's unique, personal mixture of water and fire natured chakra. It was like having boiling steam injected into your body, and his own chakra reinforcement could only do so much. He regretted suggesting she practice pushing her chakra into targets, as the surface burns she used to dish out were much less damaging than the internal scalding. Normally, he would've been able to block, dodge, or redirect the attacks, but one of the rules of this spar was that the other two were allowed to have their chakra weights off, while his stayed on.

Naruto's body was seriously regretting his mind's decision to test himself like this, if the constant signals of intense pain were anything to go by. The rest of him, though, was exhilarated. As the months had passed since the formation of team seven, he'd steadily pulled ahead of the others in terms of direct, heavy combat ability. In truth, it had been getting really frustrating to all of them, as team sparring just wasn't the same when everyone knew how it would end up. So they'd come up with the idea they were trying now, three-on-one, plus adding in a handicap. For the first time in months, no one knew who would win, but damn if he wasn't gonna give it everything he had.

Just wanting to get the girl away from him for a moment in order to have some breathing room, he kicked out as hard as he could, right at the center of her body. She blocked, though the wince of pain on her face told him she'd still felt the blow. The point wasn't to hit her, however; the point was for the force to send her rocketing backwards, away from him, and in that respect his attack succeeded admirably. It would be about four seconds till she hit the ground again, and another three to get back over to him.

But Kiba and Akamaru were coming in again. Seeing that he had enough time, even with his damaged hands, Naruto chose to test out a jutsu he'd just gotten the hang of last night.

"**Fuuton: Kaze Kakuheki"** (wind element: wind barrier wall)

It wasn't really the most accurately-named ninjutsu, as the wind formed a defensive dome around the user, not a wall. But it still served its purpose, which was to throw away the two Inuzuka coming at him from either direction. At least, it should've, but Kiba somehow just phased through the dome like it wasn't even there...

Or more like _he_ wasn't even there. The blonde was reminded of just how much he hated genjutsu; it was easy to tell this was more than just a simple bunshin, and besides, the other boy never went for the "simple stuff" anymore when doing illusions.

He moved his hands out of the last seal for the kaze kakuheki, letting the protective dome fade away, and into the standard dispel seal. The earlier damage made this action take a lot longer than he liked.

"Kai!"

The false Kiba faded from existence, as the real one reappeared, standing right behind him, one kunai at his throat, a second touching the back of his neck. Knowing that was the end, he relaxed, and the others did the same an instant later.

"Nice plan," he complimented.

"Thanks," the other two responded simultaneously.

Asuma-sensei came over again. "Great job, all of you. As far as suggestions for improvement, Ino, Kiba, nothing specific for you two, just keep working on your base skills as always, both physical and chakra. As for you, Naruto, it's almost pointless to keep saying this, seeing as you haven't listened any of the past times, but you need to think ahead more before you do things. Just because you _can_ take lots of damage and heal it all in minutes doesn't mean you _should_."

The blonde gave an embarrassed grin, his right hand automatically reaching up to scratch at the back of his neck. He'd tried to follow his sensei's advice, but it just never felt right, trying to plan, predict, and manipulate things during the middle of combat. He worked a lot better just going with his instincts, doing whatever felt best at the moment. Leave the strategizing to his teammates.

He watched as his friends started refilling their chakra weights, wishing his own were working properly. It wasn't that they'd stopped functioning, no, the things still restricted his speed and strength by quite a lot, more that they seemed to be approaching some sort of limit. It was taking more and more chakra to get less of an increase in effect. Naruto had been meaning to talk to Gai-sensei about it, but he really wanted to delay the man's shouts about his youthful progress as long as humanly possible.

Once all three genin were finished with what they were doing, the bearded jonin addressed them again. "In case you're wondering why I waited until today to tell you about the Chunin Exams, it was to keep any sort of anticipation or excitement from interfering with your training. You should know, though, that foreign ninja will start arriving soon, so don't be surprised when you see them. Anyway, I think that's about it for the day. You're all free to go; I suggest you spend your extra time making sure you really want to take the Exams." With that last statement, team training for the day was officially over, and Naruto, Ino, and Kiba said goodbye to their sensei and walked off together, chatting amicably about the Exams, training, what they were going to do that day, just about anything, really.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Asuka-chan, I'm home!" he called out.

No sooner had he walked through the front door than a mop of red attached itself tightly around his waist. "Naruto-oniisan!"

He ruffled her hair, before prying her off. "Hello to you too." At the same time, memories of the girl's day flitted into his mind, courtesy of the hidden kage bunshin that had just dispelled itself. The young ninja _never_ left his little sister alone, though she often didn't know he was there. "I see you went shopping," he commented, gesturing to the grocery bags on the small apartment's only table.

Asuka smiled. "Yeah! There was this really nice lady who helped me get everything, and she even carried it all home." He had no intention of telling her that the supposed "nice lady" was actually his clone under a henge. Most of the villagers still held a strong dislike for the blonde, and if they were to learn that he had a little girl living with him...

"So what else did you do all day?" he asked, pretending he didn't already know.

The redhead started to bounce around excitedly. "Oh, it was really fun! I went to the park and played with Kenji-kun and Hitori-chan! We had a great time!" Friends. That was something she very well might not have if her connection to him were known. As she went on in detail about each of the different games she had played, Naruto half-listened, while acting like he was paying full attention.

He knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. It was only a matter of time before the little girl decided to bring one of her friends over to _meet _the big brother she always bragged about, and then they'd go home and tell their parents, and... The boy only hoped that, by that time, he would have gained enough respect in the village's eyes that it wouldn't affect her too much.

"...And they're both going to be starting at the Academy next year." She gave him a pleading look.

He crouched down to her eye level, giving her a serious look. "Asuka-chan, we've talked about this. I don't want you becoming a ninja."

"But _why_?" she whined. "You're a ninja, Oniisan, why can't I be one too?"

"Because," he said sternly, "it's too dangerous." _"Because you could get hurt. Because if you started going out on missions, I wouldn't be able to protect you all the time. Because you're a jinchuuriki, and I need to keep that a secret for your safety. Because I don't want you to have to go through the same things I had to go through. Because I love you, and you could die."_

She pouted.

"We'll talk about it more when you're older. Just because most people start ninja training around your age doesn't mean you have to." He had enough sense to know he wasn't capable of thinking clearly on the topic and wouldn't be for quite some time. Asuka-chan was still too new in his life, too precious.

"Okay," she sighed, defeated once again.

He smiled, realizing she needed something to brighten the mood. "Hey, whaddaya say, after I take a quick shower, we unpack these groceries and have some lunch? I'm starving!"

The little girl smiled back. "Sure!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto stopped, concentrating, and stretched out all his senses, heightening them to their limits. Making absolutely certain he was alone (not that he was expecting anyone else to be in a place like this, but it never hurt to make sure), he channeled a bit of chakra into the otherwise unremarkable stone wall, causing it to slide away soundlessly.

"Hey Mom."

The woman stayed perfectly still, the moving lines, changing numbers, and beeping of the medical machines the only signs she was alive. He walked in, and the door slid closed be hind him, as always.

Creating a chair out of a kage bunshin, he sat down next to her, holding her hand gently.

"I'm gonna be taking the Chunin Exams next week. Asuma-sensei told us about 'em first thing this morning. Should be lots of fun. And that's not all."

He smiled, remembering what had happened. "Earlier this evening, after I met up with Ino and Kiba for s'more training, you know who we ran into? It was Hikari and her teammates, remember, from the Tree village? I told you about them, right?

"Anyway, they were real excited to see us. Turns out they came for the Exams as well, so that should be fun, right? And the other two teams from our year'll be there, so will Fuzzy-brows' team."

As he sat there, telling her about his day, he lost track of time. One of the two medics trusted with her care came in, not surprised in the least at the blonde's presence. He'd been visiting her like this almost every night for the past few weeks, and when he didn't talk to his mom, he talked to his dad, sitting atop the giant sculpture of the man's face. Sometimes, he liked to pretend he could hear them talking back. Eventually, the doctor left.

"Asuka-chan had a good day, too. One of my kage bunshin just finished putting her to sleep... It's hard, taking care of her like this. I mean, I've had to care for myself for as long as I can remember, but I've never had someone else depending on me before, not like this. It's a lot different from what I'm used to.

"And she asked about the Academy again, too. I just... I wish you were here, Mom."

He sat in silence for several minutes.

"Well, that's pretty much my day. I think I'm gonna head over to the training grounds for a bit now, wear myself out before I go to bed. I love you. Goodnight."

He stood up, and the chair he had been sitting in vanished in a puff of smoke. Before leaving, Naruto leaned down to give his mother a soft kiss on the cheek.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Now thoroughly exhausted from his late-night workout, Naruto was leaping rooftop-to-rooftop back to his apartment when he saw something odd. A person.

Now normally, seeing a person wouldn't be odd, but it was almost two in the morning, when most people were asleep, yet this person was standing on the roof of one of Konoha's many hotels, perfectly still, green eyes staring up at the crescent moon.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" he called out quietly to the redhead as he landed next to him, not wanting to wake anyone below them.

The other boy turned to him slowly. "I don't sleep." Those eyes... It was almost like they were empty, but Naruto could see..._ something_... in their depths, hidden away.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what's your name?" the blonde asked.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara," Gaara responded simply.

Not the most talkative person, he concluded. Still, there was something intriguing about the redhead, though possibly just because it was his first time meeting another ninja so close to him in height. More likely, though, was that being near him pissed Kyuubi off for some reason, and anything that could irritate the kitsune was good in his book. "You're here for the Chunin Exams, I guess?"

"Yes. I take it you will be there as well?"

The blue-eyed boy grinned. "Yep. I'm gonna kick people's asses and get a promotion."

"Very well, then. I shall kill you during the exams, Uzumaki Naruto." The green-eyed boy vanished in a swirl of sand.

Naruto looked around himself briefly before speaking to no one in particular. "What a weirdo. And to think he knows the shunshin already... I've been begging Asuma-sensei to teach me that for months. Oh well, should probably get on home." With that, he continued the interrupted journey to his bed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The genin of team seven hung towards the back of the crowded Academy hallway.

"What are they thinking, trying to take the Chunin Exams when they can't even notice something this obvious? I mean, however you look at it, that's gotta be Kotetsu and Izumo at that door, and anyone with common sense should know we're not on the third floor," Ino commented, looking out at the writhing mass of totally incompetent applicants.

"These guys are all losers; let's get going," Kiba spoke up from next to her before turning to go.

The kunoichi was about to follow him, when she noticed her third teammate hadn't moved. "What is it?"

The other blonde pointed towards a specific trio amongst the crowd, obvious for the moment because they were closest to the disguised chunins. "Underestimation," he said simply. "Pretend to fall for it to make everyone think you're not as good as you are." Looking at the ones he specified, she could easily recognize Rock Lee, in the middle of being punched, who'd be able to dodge a blow like while asleep.

"Think we should follow their example?" the dog boy asked.

Ino thought about it for a moment. "Sounds like a good idea; couldn't hurt, any-" She cut off abruptly as another team she recognized strode in, instead opting to glare at he black-haired boy she had wasted so much time crushing on.

The last Uchiha strutted up to the chunin. Get out of my way and dispel this gen-" The rest of his order was cut off when his male teammate placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Sasuke, it would be more beneficial to our goals were we to simply continue on."

The shorter boy spun around, scowling as he threw out a minor killing intent. Team seven tensed, preparing to move. "What have I told you before about touching me, Aburame?" he threatened.

"Yeah, keep your bug-infested hands off Sasuke-kun!" Forehead girl just had to pipe up, didn't she?

Of course, they were starting to draw lots of attention now. "Sasuke?" a voice called out, "as in _Uchiha _Sasuke? You may have an infamous name, but all the rumors say you're pretty pathetic."

"Who the hell said that? Show yourself, now!" he demanded, his killing intent increasing. As the crowd shifted, team seven made their way closer to the small open area that had formed. Two boys, one with dark brown eyes and the other black, and a girl, also with black eyes, and all with brown hair and tall enough that Ino was surprised she hadn't noticed them right away, separated from the crowd. All three wore Iwa headbands. The clothes they had on were loose and thick, concealing their builds, just like what Naruto tended to wear.

One look at the Stone ninjas' eyes told the Yamanaka they were not to be taken lightly. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to have that rare ability to selectively process only information that placed himself in a positive light. "You will regret insulting the name of Uchiha." he said dangerously, spiking not only his killing intent this time, but his chakra as well.

The boy in the middle smirked as he responded, identifying him as the one to speak earlier. "Will I, now?"

As the foreign nins moved, so did team seven. Lee, Ino noticed, was also coming in. Seeing this, and knowing she was the slowest of the four of them, the kunoichi hung back slightly for support purposes. The green-clad taijutsu specialist halted the punch toward Sakura by grabbing the attacker's wrist. Kiba stopped the kunoichi's follow-up kick to Shino, after the bug user blocked her backhand. Naruto went in between Sasuke and his opponent, using his hands to catch both boys' kicks, while somehow managing to glare at both at once, as well as raising his impressive chakra to about half of his limit, to deter any further fighting. This also had the effect of unraveling the weakly-reinforced genjutsu on the room sign.

After a brief moment, everyone backed off slightly but stayed at combat readiness, except for Naruto, who remained firmly between the Uchiha and the apparent leader of the Iwa nin.

Said boy was now glaring at the short ninja, brown eyes narrowed. "Your name?" he demanded. Ino doubted many present could pick up on the hidden undertones of barely-controlled anger and rage.

He turned his full attention to the tall boy, matching him glare for glare. "Uzumaki Naruto."

The Rock shinobi relaxed, and his two teammates swiftly followed his example. They began to walk away.

"Oi!" Naruto called out, "It's rude to ask someone else for their name and not give your own back!" The Yamanaka smiled proudly. It had taken her the better part of a week to drill that into the knucklehead, so she was glad he remembered it at all, even if incorrectly.

"There's no need for me to tell that. I thought you might have been someone interesting, but it seems I was mistaken." the unknown ninja shot back, not even bothering to turn around as he and his team walked through the parting crowd.

Had she not known her fellow blonde so well, Ino would have missed it completely, the brief flash of anger that coursed through him, there and gone in the same instant. By their expressions, Kiba and Akamaru had picked up on it as well.

Just a week ago, the whole exchange, short as it was, would have left her confused and curious, but the other day, Naruto, saying he wanted to keep no more secrets about himself from his best friends, told them about his parents. Were the situation any less serious, she would have laughed; to think that he actually _was_ who the Iwa nins thought, but they changed their minds based solely on the clan name he had given.

"Let's go." The future Hokage's voice brooked no argument, and they both followed after him down the hall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As they walked through the Academy at a fast pace, Kiba glanced at his male teammate worriedly. The soft, simmering anger the boy held right now, while it often aided him in combat, wasn't good for the calm thinking that would doubtless be needed ahead. Naruto could stay like this for days, if he never got a chance to let it out, and they had less than a half hour.

Experience had taught team seven that trying to talk him back to normal never worked. He would have offered to spar with the blonde, but in his friend's current state, the Inuzuka knewthe only thing that would result from that would be getting himself beaten to a bloody, immobile pulp. Also no good for the Exams.

For Kiba and Akamaru, attempting to spar with his male teammate had, for the last few months, been more of an exercise in how long he could last before losing. Not only did Naruto have him beaten, and beaten badly, in strength, speed, reflexes, skill, cunning, and especially chakra and stamina, but he also had the elemental advantage. And to top it off, the dog boy's most useful jutsu in a fight, his self-created Chakra no Tsume, was completely useless against him, as the huge concentration of chakra constantly circulating through the boy's coils during combat stopped his own chakra-made claws dead just by its presence.

He was about to risk a hand sign conversation on the problem with Ino behind their teammate's back (literally) when something interrupted, or more like someone.

"Naruto-kun!"

Said boy turned, his face in a grin that was both real and covering his emotions at the same time. "Hey, Fuzzy-brows. Shouldn't you be with your team?"

The taijutsu user, smelling of sweat, sweat, and more sweat, as he always did, leapt off the balcony he had called out from, to land in front of team seven, all of whom were now facing him.

"Ah, but Naruto-kun, it would be very unyouthful of me to allow my youthful rival to enter such an important exam with his flames of youth dampened by unyouthful feelings!" It took Kiba several seconds to translate the statement, but when he did, his eyes widened, as did Ino's.

Then again, out of all their age group, besides themselves, Lee was the one to spend the most time with the blonde, so it wasn't too surprising he'd notice something wrong.

As he expected, Naruto played clueless. "I dunno what you're talking about, Lee. I'm fine."

The older boy frowned in disappointment. "Lying is very unyouthful, Naruto-kun. Now, let us spar briefly to rekindle your youthful passion!"

"Fine, we'll spar. But take off your weights first."

Lee did as asked, gently placing the exceptionally heavy hunks of metal on the floor by the wall.

"Remember, boys, we've got an exam in just over twenty five minutes, so don't take too long," Ino warned as she and Kiba moved off to the side to watch from a safe distance.

The combatants shifted into their respective taijutsu stances and stared at each other for a moment before blurring into action. Literally blurring. Not taking part in the match himself, and as a result not benefiting from the adrenalin rush, it was all the Inuzuka could do to follow the two boys with his eyes. Even still, they were moving so fast that he couldn't make out anything more than general motions.

When Naruto got in these sort of moods, he tended to fight strictly with taijutsu, unless he was going up against his own kage bunshin, for which he'd add in kunai, shuriken, henge, and kawarimi. Something about causing and taking as much pain as possible directly seemed to settle the blonde's mind.

He also had a tendency, when like this, to be vicious and relentless. After hurling Lee clear across the room, the green-clad boy slamming hard into the wall about halfway between the floor and ceiling, he immediately leapt after him and drove his fists powerfully into his opponent's gut a bunch of times before taking a full-force kick right to his chest, sending _him_ flying across the combat area.

What seemed to finally bring Naruto back to his senses was when the older boy tried a move where he wrapped him in his arm bandages while in midair. The blonde built up and released a huge pulse of chakra, separating the two of them.

Both landed lightly on their feet, facing one another. The blonde was physically the worse of at the moment, covered in bruises and more than a bit of his own blood. "Fuzzy-brows, you know that had you used that attack here, you wouldn't be recovered in time for the Exams," he said in concern.

"Ah, Naruto-kun," the taijutsu specialist smiled, showing off blindingly white teeth, "truly your youthful thoughtfulness towards your friends knows no bounds! To be honest, I had gotten so caught up in our youthful battle that I forgot about the Exams!"

"Heh. Thanks, Lee, I needed that. And don't worry, I won't tell Gai-sensei you were about to use the-"

"LEE!"

The deep shout cut him off, and Kiba froze when he saw the man it had come from. Despite running into Lee several times, he, Akamaru, and Ino had never met the infamous Maito Gai and had only had their teammate's description of the man to go on. Unfortunately, a description just wasn't enough to prepare you for something like _that_, and his brain must be malfunctioning, because was that a sunset?

Naruto must have come over to them at some pint, because he was now standing right there, his hands moving in the familiar Konoha standard sign language.

/_walk slow, quiet, no attention. Block out sounds_/

They both followed their blonde friend's instructions. What remained of their sanity depended on it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Luckily, they'd managed to escape the green beasts without his teammates taking too much mental damage. As it was, though, they'd still needed about five minutes to recover from what they'd seen of The Sunset. He'd taken the extra time to clean off the blood and let the bruises finish healing.

Asuma-sensei was standing in front o the doors to room 301 when they approached, waiting for them. "You're the last team to arrive. Nearly late, too. What happened?"

Seeing as it was mostly his fault, Naruto appointed himself spokesperson. "There was an incident in a hallway, and something this one guy said pissed me off. Fuzzy-brows noticed, and we sparred for a bit till I had calmed down. Then Gai-sensei showed up."

The bearded jonin gave Ino, Kiba, and Akamaru a sympathetic look. "Well, head on in, and give it your best effort, all of you."

"Yes, sensei," team seven replied as one, before walking through the doors together.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

And the Chunin Exams begin. Seeing as this will be an action-filled section of the story, I decided to start it off with a sparring match, to give readers a good idea of just how the genin of team seven are progressing on their ninja skills. Also, it had been a while since I'd done a regular fight scene, instead of a slaughter, stealth, or ambush.

The next scene was there to show Naruto and Asuka's current relationship. How they're getting along, some of the problems they're having, and the way they're affecting each other's lives. Unlike so many Naruto stories, I'm trying to keep things semi-realistic and believable with respect to the characters.

Kushina. Just like the last scene with her, this one was hard emotionally for me, but not to the same extent or in quite the same way. Though it's pretty short, I think it speaks for itself well enough.

And following right after, Gaara. As for why I didn't do the usual Konohamaru-induced meeting, there are a couple reasons. First, it didn't have the mood I wanted for the scene. Second, if you think about it logically, the chances of it happening in that exact way are extremely low in the first place. Change a few things (or a lot of things), as I did, and it becomes unrealistic for that same meeting to occur in this alternate universe.

The hallway scene was originally put in to have a sort of lead-in to the Exams, and the confrontation with the Iwa nins (who will of course show up more later) would be in the next chapter, but then I remembered about Sasuke, and the horrible team dynamics that result from putting him and Sakura together with anyone but maybe Shikamaru would draw attention, and you can see the results.

I love it when things work out perfectly like this. For a while, I couldn't figure out how to fit the Lee scene in and was even considering dropping it entirely, since the point in canon was to introduce Lee. Then, when that last scene turned out the way it did, it gave me the perfect opportunity. I'm not going to explain things here, because I think Kiba does a good enough job of that.

Concluding the chapter, as pretty much always, is a short bit to bring everything together and lead into the next section, in which pretty much nothing else of importance happens.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching965, Orion


	19. trouble on the horizon

**chapter 19**

**trouble on the horizon**

Blue eyes swept over the room. "That's a helluva lot of people," he commented. Among the gathered ninja, he could make out several familiar faces. Hikari and the other two from Tree were off to one side, near a wall. That weird psycho he'd met the other night, Gaara, was right up in the front of the crowd. The Iwa bastards were easy enough to spot, since they stood at least half a head taller than most everyone else present. He could barely catch a glimpse of Fuzzy-brows' bright green spandex somewhere in the middle. And making their way toward team seven were...

"So you came after all, Ino-pig. You took so long, I was starting to think you'd backed out," Sakura taunted her friend/rival as she approached, Shino walking alongside his teammate, and the brooding bastard staying a bit apart from the other two, his expression clearly saying he was too important to associate with the likes of them.

"You wish, Forehead," the kunoichi shot back. "Naruto, Kiba, and I are going all the way to chunin, and nothing's gonna stop us."

Drawn by the girls' voices, the final genin team from their year came over. "So you're all in this, too? Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.

Chouji, however, was looking right at him. "Hey, Naruto. After this is all done, wanna go with me to Ichiraku, just the two of us?" He knew that tone in the large boy's voice. A challenge.

"Sure!" Uzumaki Naruto was never one to turn down a challenge, especially one that involved the world's best food. Wait a sec; something was missing. "Huh? Where's Hinata? Was she too sick to make it today?" he asked, concerned.

Kiba smacked him on the head lightly. "Use your nose, idiot. Plus, she's right there!" Oh yeah, he _could _smell her. Looking where his friend was pointing, he leaned his upper body to the side, parallel to the floor.

From his sideways position, the blonde could see her now, standing right behind the Akimichi. "Hey, Hinata! How're you doing?"

The weird girl started twiddling her fingers. "I-I'm fine, N-N-Naruto-kun. H-how are you?"

"Great!" He grinned. "Let's both be sure to do our best in the Exam, okay?"

All of a sudden, she seemed a lot more confident. "Yes!" Not really a shout, by most people's standards, but it was still the loudest he'd ever heard her speak.

"You know, you all might want to quiet down a bit. You're attracting a lot of attention." Team seven spun together to face the unfamiliar voice, the rest of their graduating class following immediately after.

It was an older boy, probably in his late teens, with grey hair and a pair of circular rimless glasses, in addition to his Konoha forehead protector. On his face was a friendly smile, something Naruto didn't usually get to see directed at him from that generation upwards.

Ino, being the best at all that politeness stuff, spoke up. "Thanks for the advice, um... What's your name? I can't remember seeing you around before."

"Kabuto, Yakushi Kabuto. As I was saying before, though, you should consider lowering your voices. The people in this room aren't gathered here to play games, you know," he advised, gesturing toward the assembled ninja from all different villages.

Turning to look, the orange-clad boy saw that most of the people in the room had started glaring at them. He hadn't noticed before because, even combined, the killing intent of the glarers wasn't really worth noticing. So, either the ones upset with them were all really pathetic and weak, or they just weren't riled up enough yet. Smirking slightly, he decided it was time to fix that.

The blonde breathed in deeply. He released the lungfuls of air in a shout, flaring his chakra slightly at the same time for effect and to be sure they took him seriously.

"LISTEN UP! MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO, AND I'M NOT GONNA LOSE TO ANY OF YOU!" That should do it. He relaxed and grinned, waiting for the reaction.

To his surprise, a lot of them backed down. The killing intent, on the other hand, actually went up a little, as the remainder intensified their glares. He turned back to the others. "Huh. Looks like most of 'em are just losers."

Then something hit him on the top of the head. Hard. "What the hell did you do that for?" the only other person with blonde hair and blue eyes yelled at him. The thing that had hit him turned out to be her fist.

"Ow! Ow! Settle down, Ino, I was just having some fun!" he retorted.

"Well I'd rather your fun didn't turn everyone in the room against us." Eh, she had a point.

The grey-haired boy looked concerned. "You all really do need some help. These exams will tear you apart otherwise." He seemed to be speaking from experience.

"You've taken these exams before then, Kabuto-san?" Kiba asked.

"Yes. This is my seventh time, in fact. That should give you an idea how hard they are, Kiba-kun" he answered.

The gathered genin shifted warily, but Shino was the first to speak. "How do you know his name?"

The older genin smiled. "I know all your names and have a good deal of information about each of you, as well as nearly everyone else in this exam. After my first six failures, I thought it would be a good idea to collect as much knowledge as possible beforehand on the exams and participants. Would you like me to share some with you as fellow Leaf nin?"

Naruto, finding the cards he took out to not be very interesting, started studying the young man himself, only keeping the smallest portion of his mind on the actual conversation.

Taking a very detailed look, he realized that the glasses Kabuto wore weren't correcting any sort of vision problem. There was no slight distortion of his eyes, as there would have been if the lenses had the small curves that would have been needed were that the case.

Which brought up the question of why he'd wear the fake glasses. Wearing those in a fight could be really dangerous for his eyes if they were to shatter. Was he trying to make people underestimate him, as Fuzzy-brows' team had attempted earlier, by pretending to have vision problems? It didn't make sense.

Taking things a step further, he concentrated, focusing on the older genin's chakra, attempting to get a feel for it. The blonde felt kind of bad, spying on him like this while he was giving them information, but there was every chance they could go up against him later on, and he had clearly been spying on them. Kabuto seemed to have a lot of chakra, a lot more than was normal for a genin, anyway, but then again, he was several years older than any of them and had therefore had several more years to build up his reserves. He could feel it flowing, smoothly, controlled-

"There's a team from Iwa I'm interested in." Sasuke-teme's comment drew him back from his observation. He wanted to know about those bastards, too. "I don't know their names, but all three are tall for their ages, with short brown hair. The kunoichi and one of the boys both have black eyes, while the other one has dark brown."

Kabuto thought for a moment, before taking out three cards. "I think I know the ones you're talking about. Are these them?" He channeled his chakra into the cards, revealing... Yep it was those bastards all right. The same ones who had written him off as nothing before.

"Since they're from a foreign village, I haven't got much on them... The brown-eyed shinobi is named Akira, the other boy Kenzo, and the girl Shigure. No known family names. Something else odd, look." He showed them the cards, pointing to each ninja's mission statistics. "They've done exactly the minimum eight D-ranks required for entrance. There's no information available on any skills, abilities, or their sensei's identity. Sorry. Give me someone else, and maybe I'll have more infor-."

It seemed they were out of time. A burst of smoke at the front of the room drew everyone's attention, before being blown away to reveal the ninjas who had just arrived.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As Ino glanced up her test for the hundredth time, searching for the best candidate for her shintenshin, she felt worry creep its way up her body. Not for herself; she had this one covered. And not for Kiba; he had Akamaru helping him. No, the one she was worried about was Naruto.

Her fellow blonde's immediate reaction to hearing it would be a paper test was bad enough, but even worse was that he had no good jutsu he could use to collect the answers. Sure, there was kage bunshin, but the chunin proctors would spot the clone appearing...

Her thoughts were interrupted when the very boy they were centered on raised his hand.

"I gotta pee," he called out.

The large head examiner gave him a hard look. "Alright. You," he pointed to one of the observing chunin, "go with him."

While externally frowning at her teammate's choice of words, the kunoichi was smiling on the inside. He would be more than capable of finding a chance to make a clone unnoticed while under the gaze of only a single watcher, even if he was handcuffed to the man.

Taking another secretive look around for a target for her own plan, the Yamanaka found the perfect opportunity sitting right in front of her. One of the mystery boys from Iwa was relaxing at his desk, clearly done working. Shifting slightly so that the proctors wouldn't see her hands, she mentally called out her jutsu name.

"_**Shintenshin no Jutsu**_**"**

Nearly two seconds of nothingness, followed by the semi-familiar feeling of sliding into another's body and taking control.

The shinobi noticed the invasion and fought back, taking her by surprise, as most victims of her jutsu didn't, but compared to Naruto's mental strength, he might as well have been a newborn baby. As soon as she was in full command, Ino remembered why she usually picked other girls. No matter how many times she did it, the anatomical differences always felt downright weird.

As she memorized the answers, the girl tried to get a feel for the body she was inhabiting, in the likely event that team seven went up against him and his teammates at some point. It was definitely the body of someone who'd had extensive training. Every movement she made was fast and precise, moreso than she herself was capable of, and she could feel a great deal of strength in the muscles as well. All her senses were a bit more acute, as well. And there was something weird... different... about the boy's chakra flow. First of all, he had a lot of the stuff, nowhere near her jinchuriki teammate's ridiculous reserves, of course, but several times her own, flowing with an unnatural smothness. The way it was moving through the body definitely wasn't normal, either.

But Ino was out of time. The longer she stayed here, the greater the risk of the proctors noticing her body was unconscious. And worse, the boy's mind had regrouped and come back at her, a lot harder this time. If she stuck around too long, he could figure out her identity or possibly even hurt her. Quickly making the proper handseal, she released the shintenshin.

The kunoichi filled in the memorized answers, still pondering over what she'd been able to learn about the enigmatic ninja in front of her. He was definitely above genin level in terms of his base abilities, and the way he'd carried himself during the hallway encounter had spoken of a decent amount of experience as well. How he'd gotten that experience through nothing more than eight D-ranks was anyone's guess. He'd also done better than Kiba ever had in fighting her off. The strangest thing, though, had been the feel of his chakra; if only she'd had a bit more time to examine it... All things considered, however, there was no denying he'd be a dangerous opponent, especially since his teammates were likely similar.

The doors opened, and Naruto returned, still cuffed to the heavily-bandaged chunin. The girl also noticed that her friend was once again radiating his usual aura of happiness and confidence, not the nervousness he'd displayed earlier in the test. Good; that meant he either had or would soon get the answers to the questions. With nothing immediate to worry about any longer, Ino decided to take the rest of the time before the tenth question was announced to just relax.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"That's bullshit!" Kiba exclaimed. "There's tons of people here who have taken this exam before! You don't seriously expect us to believe a rule like that!" Akamaru barked his agreement.

His answer came in the form of a quiet, sinister laughter from the large man. "Heh heh heh... I'm the examiner this year, so that means I make the rules. Anyone who isn't confident is free to quit and try again next year." What the hell? So this bastard was allowed to decide their fates, just by chance? Akamaru, he could tell, was just as pissed off as he was. "Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, you and your teammates will leave."

The scarred giant stopped and stood back, inviting the genin to make their choices. There was so much tension in the room, the Inuzuka was sweating in his heavy jacket. One by one, people started to raise their hands. All these people... What if the tenth question really was that hard?

What if he couldn't cheat on this one? If he got it wrong, not only his own dreams, but Ino's and Naruto's as well, all of it would be for nothing.

They'd be stuck as genin for the rest of their lives.

He didn't want that, to be the one to blame for the failure of his friends. Safer to wait, try again next time, when they wouldn't have a sadistic bastard of an examiner. Slowly, hesitantly, he brought his hand up. Only to freeze halfway through.

Because there, in the front row, was the unshakeable Naruto, the boy whose will was strong enough to hold back the fucking _Kyuubi_, his hand in the air. He must've fallen asleep; that was the only explanation for what he was seeing.

Then, his blonde teammate proved it wasn't a dream at all when he slammed his hand down onto the desk, a few splinters flying off in all directions from the force he'd used. "Don't underestimate me! I'm not gonna run away!"

All heads and eyes turned to the boy. "I'll take your damn question! Even if I stay a genin forever, I'll still become Hokage, so I don't care! I'm not afraid!" Even though he couldn't see his face at the moment, Kiba knew what it would look like. Mouth set in grim determination, blue eyes radiating intensity and confidence. He and Ino had nicknamed it the "Hokage look" just between the two of them.

"I'll ask you again," the examiner was speaking in an even more serious voice than he'd used earlier. "Your life is riding on this decision; this is your last chance to quit."

Naruto could do serious, too, though, even better than that guy's display. "I will never take back my words. That is my way of the ninja."

And to think he'd been about to give up. Something of the blonde's state of mind was flowing throughout the room, inspiring all the remaining genin. Even Akamaru had picked it up and was staring at the examiner along with everyone else.

"Good decisions. Now, to everyone still here... Congratulations on passing the first exam!" In an instant, the man's whole demeanor changed. He was smiling, proud. He went on to explain the purpose of the test, emphasizing the importance of information by taking off his bandanna, showing everyone just what he must have gone through in the past. It freaked Kiba out, making him thankful nothing like that had happened to team seven when they'd been captured. As the giant went on to explain the tenth question, the Inuzuka felt bad that he'd almost messed up on the most important part of the test.

"Great work, all of you, making it through the first exam. I wish you luck." Just then, a large black object came crashing through the frontmost window. Kiba and Akamaru immediately sprang into a battle stance, just in case, as did many of the other genin.

The object unfurled, attaching to the floor and ceiling with kunai, to reveal itself as a banner, saying: "THE SEXY AND SINGLE MITARASHI ANKO, 2ND EXAMINER" More than the words, though, his attention was caught by the woman standing in front of them. It was pretty likely she was the second examiner and that her name was Mitarashi Anko, she was probably single, and she was most definitely sexy. Not that Kiba thought of himself as a pervert, but there was no denying that this lady was _hot_.

"This is no time to be celebrating, midgets! I'm the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko! Now, let's go! Follow me!" Kiba, and he was sure the rest of his graduating class as well, was reminded eerily of the way Naruto always acted when trying to draw attention.

The kunoichi looked around the room. "Ibiki!" She rounded on the man. "You left thirty teams?"

"What can I say? There were some exceptional candidates this year." His eyes flicked to the blonde in the front row.

"Whatever. I'll be sure to cut them all in half." The Inuzuka hoped she meant their numbers, not their bodies; something about the way she'd said that just screamed dangerous. He briefly wondered if instant mood changes were required for exam proctors. If so, Naruto would be great at the job.

The kunoichi turned to them, still just as scary. "Ahh... I'm getting excited. I'll explain everything once we're there. Follow me." No one disobeyed or protested, even though her route took them right through the shattered window.

The place she led them to... Kiba _really_ didn't like the smell of this place, and Akamaru would've rather been pretty much anywhere else. But there was no more backing down, not now.

"Welcome to training ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto shuddered. That had been _way_ too close. It had taken every bit of strength he had to force the psycho snake lady away from him and his blood she had been so intent on... licking. He wasn't sure if eating the red liquid would have the same sort of effect as an injection right into the bloodstream, but he had absolutely no desire to find out. The blonde made a mental note not to antagonize her for fun again anytime soon.

Something was seriously creepy about the Grass nin with the long tongue, besides the obvious and the part where he couldn't tell if it was a guy or a girl. "Hey, Kiba," he turned to his teammate, "could you tell anything about that tongue freak? Confused the hell outta my nose."

The dog boy looked troubled as he answered. "I know what you mean. The bastard was suppressing the scent somehow, which is way beyond genin level. Mom taught me and Akamaru a way around most scent blocking, I can teach you some other time if she says it's okay, but I still couldn't get anything, it was just too strong. This guy here," he ruffled the dog's head poking out of his jacket, "picked up a deep snake scent, exactly the same as the psycho examiner, and even weirder, it's both a guy and a girl."

"Huh?" This came from both the blondes as they stared at him in utter disbelief.

"I know, but Akamaru's nose doesn't lie. That Kusa ninja is a guy and a girl." He paused, seeming to consider something. "Why'd you give _me _the scroll, anyway?"

Naruto diverted his full attention to his friend. "So that's what's bothering you. Well, it seems like there's a lot of teams here we'd be better off avoiding in this stage. And as much as I'd like to teach those Iwa bastards a thing or two, the exam comes first. From what Ino told us, they're not exactly- Hikari?"

The silver-haired Tree kunoichi was being carried toward them by her teammates. From her expression, she seemed to be in a great deal of pain. "Hikari, what's wrong?"

"I'm... I'm sorry, Naruto... But we... won't be finishing this exam with you." The pain was in her voice as well.

"What is it? What happened?" She might not be someone he saw every day, but the girl was still a friend, damn it! And there was no way Uzumaki Naruto was going to sit by while one of his friends was in pain.

"It's my... my 'gift.'" Those orange eyes she had from the Great Tree, of course. He remembered when they'd first met, she had told him about the severe pain she felt whenever seeing someone lying in any way. "There are just too many people... hiding and deceiving. I tried to hold out, made it this far, but... Be careful of the red-headed boy from Sand. He has a monster in him, not as powerful as some, but still dangerous. And the three from Stone, they're... wrong somehow. As is the Grass ninja with the long tongue. Don't get near that one. I'm sorry, I-"

"It's okay. You three get out of here. Go back to Kasumi-sensei, rest up, and head home; there's no need to push yourselves. Thanks for the warnings, and don't worry about us, all right? Now get out of here." Only when the other two had leapt away, and all three chakras were fading into the distance, in the direction of the village, did Naruto stop to actually go over what she'd told them.

"The red-headed boy from Sand," that was Gaara. He had a demon in him? "Not as powerful as some, but still dangerous," she'd said. That must have been her way of saying that, whatever the demon was, it wasn't on the Kyuubi's level, a very good thing to know. He was also grateful to her for keeping her word to not actually mention the kitsune, even through the pain she must have been in. To think, though, that Gaara was like him... At least it explained the fox's reaction to his presence. Thinking about those pale green eyes, seemingly empty, but hiding so much, he vowed to find a chance to talk to the other jinchuriki, alone.

Everything else she'd said had simply confirmed their suspicions. Naruto turned to his teammates. "You both heard her. As long as we're in that forest, we avoid those five unless we've got no other option. Got it?" They both nodded.

Right. Back to where they were before, explaining to Kiba why he had the scroll. "If we end up meeting them anyway and there's nothing forcing us to fight, we run from them, maybe split up. And that's why you've got the scroll. Separated, you have the best chance of staying safe. You're good in forests, you have Akamaru to help you, you can smell anyone coming from over miles away."

"But you''re the best fighter," the Inuzuka protested. "Shouldn't you keep it?"

He already had an answer ready. "I may be the best in combat, but combat risks the scroll getting damaged or destroyed."

"Wait, so you just want me to run and hide during a fight? Like hell." The other boy was starting to get angry.

Fortunately, Ino seemed to get where he was going. "That's not it at all, Kiba. This is only in case we're separated. You're avoiding battles you don't have a good chance of winning, like going up against a coordinated team by yourself; it's one of the most basic rules of being a ninja." That was enough to settle him down. Ino was always so good at that sensible stuff.

"Okay, I get it now; thanks. We should probably head to a gate."

Well, he was definitely right on that last bit. They didn't want to be late and get disqualified. Naruto looked at his friends, smiling excitedly.

"You guys ready for this?"

Both nodded, smiling back the same way.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

About this chapter overall, I decided to, as usual, skim over as much of the straight-from-canon and nearly-straight-from-canon stuff as possible. Personally, I think it's boring reading descriptions of the rules for the first two exams, especially when they don't change at all.

I really like this first scene. It's one of the only canon scenes to have the whole rookie nine interacting. Of course, that means it's a huge pain to write and even more of a pain to try and write well. I hope I did a good enough job.

Still on the same scene, I don't like Kabuto. He is, however, very good at what he does, so it would be unrealistic for a group of genin to immediately recognize him as a spy like they do in so many other Naruto fics, especially when he's able to deceive chunin and jonin.

During the exam, readers will notice that seating arrangements are _not_ the same as in canon. They're pretty much randomly selected, so it wouldn't be realistic for them to be the same, especially with the Stone nins added into the mix.

Nothing really to say about the next scene, as most of it's taken right from canon. I kept it there both to let everyone see thing from Kiba's point of view and because I love Naruto's outburst during the tenth question.

The final scene in this chapter has the most new stuff going on. They plan for the forest, Hikari gives her warning, speculating on Orochimaru... Also, I'm betting people will wonder why the Tree kunoichi didn't warn them about Sound or Kabuto. She was in massive amounts of pain and not really thinking clearly, so she just wanted to let them know about the biggest, most immediate threats. On top of that, just because she can see when others are lying doesn't mean she always knows what the truth is.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching 965, Orion


	20. ninjas and tigers and scrolls, oh my!

**chapter 20**

**ninjas and tigers and scrolls, oh my!**

"Kiba, how is it?" Naruto asked.

The Inuzuka sniffed again. "No good; they're still gaining on us. You should be smelling them soon, too."

"Damn it." Ino agreed with him. Less than five hours in, and the Iwa nins were hunting them.

The kunoichi decided to voice her thoughts. "We'll have to at least confront them." Her fellow blonde's frown told her exactly what he thought of that idea. "Look, we already know they're intent on us, probably because of you. We've led them right past two unobservant, off-guard genin teams, but they didn't even so much as slow down, so they're clearly not too interested in a scroll right now. We can't outrun them. And until we find out how they're tracking us, we won't know how to lose them."

"And just how d'you plan on finding that out?" he shot back. "By asking them?"

She nodded. "Pretty much."

Blue eyes stared into each other, one pair questioning, the other confident.

"All right." At his acknowledgment, team seven stopped on one of the giant braches and turned around to await their pursuers' arrival. Just over a minute later, the Stone genins landed on a similar branch.

Both unofficial team leaders took a step forward. "What the hell d'you want?"

The brown-eyed boy, Akira, she remembered, answered in a threatening voice. "I think you lied to me before. Because I think your name isn't really Uzumaki at all. I'm betting you're the son of that thrice-damned Namikaze bastard!"

Ino was careful to keep her expression neutral. Internally, however, she was praying these three would never report their suspicions, probably rekindled by Naruto's motivational speech at the end of the first exam, to their home. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kiba in much the same state.

For several seconds, Naruto did and said nothing, not even moving. When he did finally speak, it was with a cold, chilly tone that made her shiver even though it was directed at someone else. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. That is the name my mother gave me when I was born and the name I have gone by every day of my life. I have no other." Though she couldn't see his face, it was easy to picture hard, ice-blue eyes boring into the taller boy. "And if you ever insult Yondaime-sama in front of me again, I will make you suffer."

The foreign ninjas' confidence didn't waver. "If you say so. But now that we're here, I think we'll take your scroll. Would be a waste not to, after everything we did to find you."

That was the chance she had been waiting for. Kenzo, the other boy, had done nothing but stare at her the entire time, and not just in case she tried something, so she directed her words at him. "I'm curious; just how _did_ you find us? So quickly, too." Ino felt like throwing up.

Like the arrogant, male, teenage idiot she'd pegged him as, the black-eyed shinobi answered smugly, "Oh, that was easy. We started at the next gate over and tracked your chakra signatures."

The kunoichi, Shigure, shot him a glare, but their leader remained perfectly composed. "If you won't hand over the scroll, we'll just have to take it, then."

With that, he leapt straight at Naruto, moving at a speed the Yamanaka could barely follow. While she wouldn't have been able to react in time to dodge completely, the other blonde could and did, leaping away backwards to land on a different branch. His teammates jumped after him.

Akira's punch had struck the wood with so much force it actually made a crater about six inches across. Ino made a mental note to be sure and dodge any further attacks from him: both herself and Kiba wouldn't be able to fight anymore were they to take a hit like that, and even Naruto would end up with broken bones.

The orange-clad boy spoke quietly, not moving his lips to be sure the other genin didn't know what he was saying. "I'm gonna use the senpuu no jutsu. Buy me time."

That would work; it would get the Iwa nins away and cover up their chakra trail at the same time. They both nodded, before moving in front of him. Kiba and Akamaru used their juujin bunshin, the smoke covering Ino's movements as she threw a pair of wire-guided kunai.

The short boy had used his moment of invisibility to make a single kage bunshin, the clone taking his prior position and stance as the original moved to the backside of the tree branch, where he could stay out of sight a bit longer.

Concentrating on the weapons she had thrown, the Leaf kunoichi guided one into the Stone kunoichi's right thigh and the other into their leader's left shoulder, taking them completely by surprise when she changed their directions in mid-flight. To her side, the Inuzukas activated their chakra no tsume, while the Naruto clone sank into his preferred taijutsu stance. She barely heard the real Naruto whisper "eighteen seconds" as he used the moment none of the Iwa nins were looking to release the chakra in his feet, falling straight down to the forest floor.

The other two enemy ninja were almost as fast, and likely almost as strong, as Akira. Shrugging off the stab wounds, and not half as affected by the paralyzing toxin on the blades as they should have been, the leader went straight for the Yondaime look-alike clone, and the kunoichi for Kiba. Kenzo came at her.

Ino built up and released a large burst of steam chakra, forcing the boy to either retreat slightly or risk getting scalded. She hadn't wanted to reveal that ability so soon, but this was the only Iwa team, so they most likely wouldn't be telling anyone. A bit away from her the replica of the other blonde was concentrating on dodging all the blows that came his way, since a single hit would reveal the ploy. Still further away, Kiba and Akamaru were keeping Shigure away with a constant barrage of claw slashes.

The steam dissipated, and her opponent came in with a roundhouse kick at her stomach. Hopping just a couple inches off the branch, the Yamanaka twisted horizontally and grabbed the boy's shin with both hands. Even with chakra reinforcement and no substantial resistance other than her bodyweight, the impact nearly dislocated both shoulders. It was worth it, though, as she injected steam chakra into the leg. It seemed Kenzo's pain tolerance was nearly as high as Naruto's though, as he just grunted and flinched slightly. She let herself fly back, crouching as she hit a nearby tree feet-first to prevent damage from landing.

Ten seconds left.

The boy leapt straight at her, and Ino took out another pair of wired, poisoned kunai, using a burst of steam to cover her motions as she drew and threw them. Seeing the knives flying at him, he grabbed two kunai of his own to fend them off. With slight hand movements, she guided the weapons off course, but her foe had seen her do it before and was ready. He managed to stop one entirely, while the other grazed his cheek.

As soon as that happened, she cut off her chakra attachment to the wood, so that she wouldn't still be there when the shinobi arrived. While falling, she faced the branch below her and made handseals, finishing up just as she landed. The kunoichi turned to face her foe, who had done exactly as she had predicted and leapt straight after her yet again.

"**S**_**uiton: Mizu no Funsha no Jutsu**_**"** (water element: jet of water technique)

The concentrated blast knocked him away, though he still reacted fast enough to get his arms up to block any serious damage. She used the brief respite to check on the others. The canine pair had switched to evasive tactics, having deactivated their chakra claws, and Kiba even reverted to his clawless form to make use of the raiton jutsu Asuma-sensei had taught him, while Akamaru was throwing shuriken. By the way he was moving, the boy had been injured. The toxin was slowing down his opponent a little bit more now too, but still nowhere near as much as she'd hoped. The Naruto clone, now not far from her own position, kept up dodging taijutsu attacks. His opponent was clearly getting frustrated.

Five seconds.

Ino found her own opponent, who was coming straight at her yet again. Knowing there probably wouldn't be enough time left to get away after another clash, she leapt backwards. She landed too close to the nearby fighters.

Before the kunoichi realized what had happened, Akira was less than a foot away, his fist about to plunge into her chest. Then she was shoved roughly to the side, as the kage bunshin took the hit for her. The tall boy's brief confusion at his enemy going up in smoke was enough to let her leap away.

"Find him!" he shouted.

Three seconds.

The black-eyed male was still coming after her, though, ignoring his teammate's instructions. Jumping backwards yet again, she started the handseals for the kawarimi.

Two seconds.

Just as the tall boy would have reached her, she completed the jutsu, switching places with the furthest object she could find from Naruto's location.

One second.

Ino spent that last moment looking for Kiba and Akamaru. When this was done, she'd want to head straight towards the duo. Finding them, she braced herself.

Zero.

"**Fuuton: Senpuu no Jutsu"** (wind element: whirlwind technique)

The fierce burst of wind shot upward and outward from her fellow blonde's position on the forest floor. Unlike so many wind jutsu, this one used strong buffeting winds instead of slicing winds, forcefully throwing away just about everything in its range without actually causing direct damage.

Naruto still hadn't quite gotten the jutsu down, as he needed to concentrate if he wanted to produce the right type of wind. His use of the jutsu in this instance was so powerful it actually uprooted the trees closest to his position, though it didn't send them flying very far. The Stone nins, on the other hand, and even Ino and Kiba, were soon hurtling above the treetops.

The genin of team seven had gotten far enough away that they'd be able to land relatively safely on a tree branch somewhere, the blast having not thrown them _too _far, or at a very steep angle. And assuming the Iwa nins survived their own landings and got back together, they still wouldn't be able to track them by chakra, as the residue from use of the senpuu would cover up all traces.

Coming down through the leaves, the kunoichi almost immediately found the perfect landing spot. Taking out a third pair of wired kunai, the non-poisoned variety this time, she threw them towards a nearby branch as she fell, the wires wrapping around the wood several times before the blades dug in. She pumped chakra to her arm muscles and braced to take the strain.

Combined with the damage she'd taken during the fight, it proved to be slightly too much for her left shoulder, and it was all Ino could do to keep from screaming out in pain as the force dislocated it. Pumping even more chakra to her right arm to compensate, she climbed the wire up to the branch.

After what felt like forever, the kunoichi hauled herself up over the edge and spent the next half a minute catching her breath and preparing mentally for what was coming next. Grabbing one of the kunai our of the bark after detaching the wire, she walked over to the trunk of the tree and sat down, her back against the firm wood.

She bit down on the metal weapon, took three deep breaths, and popped her shoulder back in place with her right hand. It hurt like hell. The blonde used about two minutes further to rest, recover, and reorient herself. Then she leaped off towards where she'd last seen Kiba, keeping on full alert for any approaching teams. Fighting in her current condition wouldn't be a good idea.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto leapt through the trees, breathing heavily, pushing his body to move a bit faster than it wanted to. The senpuu no jutsu had taken a lot out of him, especially since it was his first time using it at full power; he estimated that it would probably be at least an hour before he was fully recovered. Right now, though, he had to get to Ino and Kiba. Rest would come once the team was safely reunited.

Still, the blonde was very glad he'd taken the time and effort to learn the S-rank (mostly because of the huge amount of chakra needed) jutsu, and that Asuma-sensei was able to get the scroll for him. It had been really hard, because the bearded jonin hadn't been able to help him that much (not being able to use the jutsu himself), unlike with all the other fuutons he'd learned. Once the exams were done, he had a lot more work to do on it; it was supposed to be possible to focus the wind blast down to a single target, at which point the massively concentrated force would crush most ninja instantly. It would probably be years before he reached that point.

The young ninja, his body still recovering, focused on getting to his friends, and so wrapped up in his thoughts, wasn't paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been. That was why he stumbled straight into a battle.

The moment he caught sight of other ninjas up ahead, he stopped, still a bit over a hundred yards away. His eyes spent a moment processing the scene. There was Sakura, her pink hair easily recognizable, a bit away from the fighting pair, frozen. Shino stood next to her in much the same situation.

And Sasuke-teme, too, wasn't moving. Naruto thought it was his first time seeing fear in the Uchiha's face. Across from him stood the freaky Kusa nin. No... Wait...

That was Orochimaru! He recognized the rogue Sannin's face from a book he'd read about famous Knoha ninjas! But what the hell was Orochimaru doing here, disguised as a genin?

He didn't have time to think, though, because the evil genius said something, too far away to hear distinct sounds or to lip-read, and his neck stretched, going straight for the bastard. As much as he hated the last Uchiha, Naruto wasn't the kind to do nothing as a fellow Konoha ninja died right in front of his eyes.

So, concentrating a huge overload of chakra to his leg muscles, he aimed and leapt straight for the snake Sannin's head, the branch he sprang from exploding from the backlash.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Finally. Finally, the Sharingan would be his. And even more, the body it was in showed a potential that was... delicious.

Orochimaru took no chances; it had taken him months to grow this cursed seal, and he would let nothing make him delay for another one. That was why he'd bothered using the kanashibari no jutsu on the nuisances and Sasuke-kun, to be absolutely sure they wouldn't interfere. As one final extra precaution, he strengthened his neck with chakra on the slight chance that a stray jutsu or weapon from a nearby fight were to hit him.

Mere feet from the Uchiha, he sensed something moving towards him at high speed, then his mouth met skin, and he bit down on instinct.

But the skin... wasn't that of his target. It was too tough to be Sasuke-kun's. The impact hit then, jerking his neck a couple yards to the side. Whoever had just collided with him had done so with a tremendous amount of force.

That was when his mind, previously enraptured by visions of the power of the Sharingan, caught up to what his body was telling him. He'd just bitten _someone else_. He'd wasted the cursed seal!

Moving his neck back over the branch, Orochimaru released his cargo and moved back a bit, curious as to just who had managed to disrupt his plans...

Blonde, spiky hair, blue eyes, six whisker-like markings on the cheeks, it was the damned Kyuubi brat! Out of all the pitiful genin in this forest, it had to be the one he could make no use of!

That defiant stare, so similar to another from a person the snake Sannin had thoroughly hated, made him angry, and Kusanagi was in his hand the next instant. _Someone_ was going to die.

He looked around... and cursed the Kyuubi brat again. He needed Sasuke-kun, for the boy was the only accessible source of his Sharingan. Killing the Uchiha's teammates right in front of him might very well set the boy permanently against him, something he couldn't risk. And killing the brat would bring the whole of Akatsuki crashing down on him.

Orochimaru let the sword disappear. "Ah, Sasuke-kun, i had meant to give you a present, but it seems Naruto-kun has stolen it." He looked at the blonde, the seal forming on the front left side of his neck. It seemed to be interacting with the kitsune as well, as his eyes were oscillating between blue and slitted red. "But do not worry, for you will see me again, and I, Orochimaru, shall give you power beyond your wildest dreams." The growing amount of demonic chakra coming from the jinchuriki was his cue to leave.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sakura felt her mind slowly start to function again as she began trying to piece together what had just happened.

They'd been going through the forest, Shino's bugs had found a team from Rain, Sasuke-kun had taken them out and gotten their scroll, a Heaven scroll, luckily. Then that Kusa nin showed up.

He... she... he had done something, made her and Shino's bodies freeze up. They were only able to watch as Sasuke-kun went at the impossibly powerful enemy again and again, in the end unable to hurt him at all. Even a direct hit from Sasuke-kun's new ryuuka no jutsu did no actual damage.

Then he froze Sasuke-kun the same way he had them, destroyed their scrolls, and...

And Naruto had saved him. The idiot had come from nowhere and taken the hit for him, protecting him from whatever it was the man, Orochimaru, she reminded herself, had wanted to do to him.

For a moment, the Sannin had been furious, even going so far as to take out a sword, and the kunoichi had thought they would all die. Then, he'd stopped, said something about power and presents and stealing, told them his identity as the infamous criminal, and left.

But just as they'd all started moving again, there was thus terrible, horrible feeling, this sense of unstoppable power and destruction, emanating from the stupid idiot with no fashion sense. And this time, Sakura had _known_ they would all die.

Then the blonde had screamed and crumpled, and the feeling had vanished.

"Let's go."

What? Sasuke-kun... Sasuke-kun wanted to leave? Just like that?

"It is our duty as Konoha ninja to help Naruto, since he helped us."

That was Shino. Right, of course, Naruto would need help. After whatever that was Orochimaru had given him, there was no way he'd be okay. She walked over to his unconscious body.

The pink-haired girl nearly threw up. When she got closer, she could see that large patches of his pant legs were soaked in blood, not easily visible from a distance because of the angle and the fact that orange is close to red. More of the liquid, a lot more, was spilling out onto the tree branch below him, becoming a red stain in the wood.

"He's badly hurt. Bleeding all over his legs," she reported.

"Who cares about that idiot. Let's go."

"Sasuke-kun, we can't just leave him!" Sakura immediately put her hand over her mouth, shocked at herself for shouting at Sasuke-kun like that.

The bug boy's monotonous voice sounded again. "I will not leave Naruto until he is reunited with his teammates."

That's right, he was on a team with Ino-pig and Kiba. Where were those two? They must have gotten separated somehow.

"Hmph. Whatever."

Any other time, she would have found Sasuke-kun's attitude cool and attractive. Now, it was just... mean.

"I'll carry him," the kunoichi offered. While she would rather not have to carry a bleeding, unconscious Naruto, the boys were by far the better fighters, more important that they be unencumbered in case of attack.

She bent down and hefted the short blonde over her shoulder, stumbling for a moment under the unexpected weight before increasing the chakra flow to her muscles to compensate. When the idiot woke up, she'd have to tell him to lay off the ramen.

Shino looked up from his finger, which he'd been staring at intently for the past several seconds. "My insects have found a suitable place to treat his injuries. Follow me." She did, trying to ignore the wetness against her back and the strange, limp feeling of the boy's legs.

Five minutes later, team ten arrived at the base of one of the giant trees, where some of the roots arced up in the air offering a bit of cover and protection. Sakura, exhausted from having to carry the heavy blonde for such a long time, still made sure to place him down gently before collapsing in a heap herself.

Sasuke-kun stood guard silently, while Shino inspected the boy's wounds without a word. When the Aburame took out a kunai and began carefully cutting his pants of to see the full extent of the damage, she forced herself to look. Naruto had gotten hurt like this protecting Sasuke-kun; it was her responsibility.

This time, she really did throw up. The reason there was all that blood was because his legs had actually torn wide open in several places. Muscles and bits of bone were visible beneath the blood. _Bits_ of bone. It was like someone had taken a sledgehammer to the boy's legs, over and over again. His feet, as well, were in much the same condition.

Sakura had never liked the blonde, his constant pestering for dates, the way he could be so unbelievably annoying. But even had she known absolutely nothing about injuries, it would have been obvious these weren't the type you could recover from. In the unlikely event he survived, his legs would never work again. She shuddered to think what the always-optimistic boy would be like if he woke to find all his dreams and future crushed...

"He will recover."

What? She turned to her teammate in shock.

"I do not understand it either," he said, in a voice with a slight hint of curiosity, "but my insects are reporting that the injuries are already beginning to heal. It is most likely an undocumented bloodline limit. We should bandage the lower half of his body, then let him rest. Outside of that, there is also a mark on his neck where Orochimaru bit him. However, it appears to be inactive at the moment."

Oh. She nodded, helped Shino with the task, then let herself fall asleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ow. Stupid leg," Kiba complained as he landed at a bad angle on the injured limb. His nose told him that the only one close enough to hear him was Akamaru, though he was rapidly approaching Ino's location.

About thirty seconds of tree-hopping later, the flower-scented kunoichi came into view, leaping from branch to branch in his general direction. "Ino!"

She changed course slightly at the call, and they were soon standing next to each other.

The blonde looked him over. "What happened to your leg?" she asked, no doubt noticing how he was putting slightly less weight on the one.

"Hurt it during the fall. Same thing with your arm?" he asked, seeing she was taking care not to move her left arm too much. Ino nodded.

He and Akamaru sniffed the air a few times to pick up the scent of their remaining teammate. "He's this way," he gestured off to his left. "Let's get going."

While they hopped through the trees, the two genin struck up a conversation on the recent fight, though the Inuzuka duo made sure to keep alert to their surroundings.

"There's definitely something not normal about their abilities," the Yamanaka commented. "Those kunai I hit them with were coated in my most potent paralysis agent, and it barely had an effect."

Kiba thought back to the oddities in his own battle. "I know what you mean. My chakra no tsume were stopped dead by that girl's skin, just like what happens when I try 'em on Naruto, but the chakra she used to do it wasn't even a tenth of what should've been needed."

The kunoichi let out a frustrated sigh. "The two of us can't stand up to them in direct confrontation; they're just too powerful. Kinda like that knucklehead, really."

At that comparison, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Ino, you don't think..." he trailed off, not wanting to actually say it and hoping she could figure it out for herself.

The Yamanaka didn't disappoint. "That they have demons sealed in them? No. I would've sensed a demon when I used the shintenshin during the last exam if that were the case, or Hikari would've warned us, like she did about Gaara."

The Inuzuka adjusted their course to the left slightly, to avoid a group of human scents ahead.

"Besides," she continued, "Naruto's power doesn't come from the fox. It comes from his own hard work, and all the things he's had to go through."

"I know that," he grumbled, "I just don't like the idea of losing to jerks like them."

Ino was silent for several minutes. "...If those three were to report their thoughts on Naruto back to Iwa, it would be really troublesome."

"What was that, Shikamaru?" Blue eyes glared. "Sorry, sorry. Definitely agree with you there, though, especially since it's the truth."

A few seconds later, the two ninjas and a dog broke out of the trees into a large rock-filled clearing.

"It's getting late, what d'you say we rest here for the night?" He left out that he was coming close to collapse; the hit to the stomach he'd taken during the fight combined with the fractured leg had taken their toll.

"Sounds good," the kunoichi answered. "I'll take first watch, Akamaru'll have late night, and you do morning, okay?"

Yeah, that sounded good. Within ten minutes, Kiba was ready for a restful night's sleep.

It wasn't to be, though, as he woke up in the dead of night to the sound of his partner's barking. The boy's sleep-addled brain had trouble interpreting the message, but the feeling of urgency quickly got his adrenalin flowing, and he leapt up.

That was when he noticed them.

Not an enemy team, as he'd first feared, but tigers. Giant tigers. A lot of giant tigers. Who, by their growling and stalking, saw them as prey.

Ino was already on her feet, a kunai in her right hand, squinting into the moonlight. "I can barely see them." Of course; unlike the boys of team seven, she didn't have enhanced senses to help her out.

This wasn't good, he needed to think. These tigers were wild animals, and wild animals could be scared off by sudden, loud noises and bright flashes of light. Like the kind made by lightning ninjutsu! He was going through handseals before he even realized what he was doing.

"**Raiton: Rakurai no Jutsu"** (lightning element: lightning bolt technique)

He aimed the blast of electricity at the closest of the cats. The result was unexpected.

Instead of being fried, the feline jumped away at the last instant, and instead of being scared away, the other tigers just kept right on coming. Damn it. They just had to be up against wild animals accustomed to jutsus, didn't they?

Still, there was no way the Inuzuka was about to lose to a bunch of overgrown cats, and Akamaru clearly felt the same way.

"**Juujin Bunshin"**

"**Chakra no Tsume"**

He, his partner, and his teammate moved into a triangle formation, facing the tigers surrounding them, the two feral genin with long, glowing blue claws on the ends of their natural claws.

"Kiba, I can't see them," the Yamanaka said again, s hint of panic entering her voice.

"Then don't use your eyes," he shot back. "Remember the blindfold training Asuma-sensei had us do?"

The kunoichi had had a good deal of trouble with that one, he remembered, but he and Naruto had been able to give her tips and advice to get her through.

"Got it," she answered, taking several deep breaths before relaxing. Just moments later, the first tiger pounced.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He could hear someone crying. Sad, in pain, afraid.

Alone.

Naruto ran towards the sound. He would not let anyone else suffer like that.

He was in an alley, and across from him, the source of the crying. Himself.

His younger self, from back before he'd started the Academy, back when every day was a living hell only slightly more bearable than his nightmares.

The younger boy looked up at him, tears falling from his blue eyes.

"I was... so lonely." He heard his own voice from the other's mouth.

"Everyone... No one cared. Not really."

With the words came the memories. Memories he had wanted to forget, to keep buried.

"I wanted... I wanted people to notice me, to know me. But they never did."

There was a small shift in the tone, and in the atmosphere. Something unfamiliar. "I was... too weak. No one cared because I didn't have...

"I didn't have pow- oof!" Naruto had dashed up to the thing and rammed his fist into its stomach, winding it and sending it flying.

On landing, it morphed into a replica of Orochimaru, exactly as the boy had seen him in pictures.

"Kukuku. You will submit to me, Naruto-kun." The voice had changed now, too.

He glared into pale green eyes. "Like hell I will. What is it with really arrogant being wanting control of my body, anyway?"

The fake Sannin moved into a combat stance.

"You really think you stand a chance in a mental battle against the guy who's been holding back the Kyuubi his whole life?" he warned. The figure relaxed. "Smart choice. Now, I'm betting I can't get rid of you, but try anything and I will find a way to cause you pain. Clear?" It nodded. "Good."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Now, Ino could fully understand (and completely agreed with) her teammate's hatred of cats. Real tigers were far worse than little Tora, and the many bandaged gashes on her body were proof. Kiba and Akamaru were in even worse condition, having gotten up close and personal with the beasts; on the other hand, they'd also done most of the work with their fierce gatsuuga attack augmented by the deadly chakra no tsume.

On the plus side, team seven wouldn't have to worry about hunting for meat the whole rest of their stay in the forest; using a portion of their funds from the S-rank mission on sealing scrolls had turned out to be a good investment.

She was shaken from her thoughts by the sound of her teammate's voice. "There's a bunch of scents gathered together up ahead, Naruto's included. I'm getting him, Sakura, Shino, Lee, and three unfamiliar genin."

"Well then, let's pick up the pace," the kunoichi responded, pushing her body harder, making the wounds protest heavily.

A couple minutes of full-out sprinting brought them to a small open area in front of the base of a giant tree. She picked out her fellow blonde immediately, lying unconscious beneath a raised root. The other Konoha ninja were standing in front of him defensively, though both boys were in pretty bad shape, and Forehead seemed to be forcing herself to stand through her fear. Across from them was a genin team from hidden Sound, all still in good condition.

"Can't you see that Sasuke-kun isn't here right now?" the pink-haired kunoichi shouted out. "So whatever trouble you have with him, it's got nothing to do with us!"

The hunched, bandaged shinobi wasn't persuaded. "But you two are his teammates, yes? So taking care of you now will only help us later. And greeny and orange-boy, they're just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Ino placed a restraining hand on her teammate's shoulder, stopping him from leaping in immediately. Adding two more tired, injured ninja to Knonha's side against a team that had done that sort of damage to Lee and Shino without taking much in return wouldn't be much help. Right now, they had the element of surprise.

She went through the handseals for her shintenshin, targeting the Oto kunoichi from her place in the bushes.

"_**Shintenshin no Jutsu**_**"**

Several moments later she was in control of the girl's body, its owner's mind having put up no resistance and her teammates unsuspecting of the switch. A couple more seconds to adjust to the feel of the new body, and she was ready to make her move.

Turning swiftly, she plunged the kunai in her hand deep into his left shoulder. As the genin screamed in pain (she was grateful to finally have an opponent without a ridiculously high pain threshold), the stolen body leapt back to avoid any sort of counterattack. In the first instant of confusion, Kiba also made his move, throwing himself at the tall dark-haired boy in a vicious tsugaa. Unfortunately, the ninja had slightly better reflexes than they'd been hoping and was able to throw himself to the side in time to avoid damage to everything but his left arm. He too screamed as the limb was shredded and made essentially useless.

She and Kiba then both leapt simultaneously to join their fellow Leaf ninja, Much to the confusion of everyone present.

"Kin, what the hell?" shouted out bandage-boy

"Ah, Kiba-kun, you have chosen a most youthful time to arrive, as have you, miss, for realizing your youthfulness." Lee's voice was quiet and wavering, reconfirming her assessment that he was near-unconscious.

She turned to glance at her longtime friend/rival. "Seems I always end up saving you one way or another Forehad."

"I-Ino?" the kunoichi asked in surprise.

The Yamanaka winked then turned back to go on to the next step in the plan. Forming a single handseal, she waited until the instant before Kiba's kunai hilt made contact with the back of her neck. "Release!"

Awakening back in her own body, she and Akamaru (already in juujin bunshin form) leapt out over the the heads of the Oto nin to land with the others. At least, that was what they tried to do, but the taller of the two remaining enemies pointed his useable hand up at them. The brief chakra buildup was all they needed to shove off one another in midair, a trick discovered by watching Naruto fight with kage bunshin, and dodge most of the intense wind blast that followed. The indirect hit was still pretty painful, especially on top of all her other injuries. It was also enough to return the dog to his normal form. They joined up with their allies.

"The gauntlet..." Shino was definitely not in fighting condition, by the sound of his voice, "on his right arm... amplifies sound waves... damages inner ear..."

That was good to know; damage to the inner ear also explained the state of the two boys. Ino wished she'd been able to hit the other shoulder.

The two sound ninja still looked pretty confident. Mostly annoyed, though. "Great, now we have six barely-standing pests to deal with."

"Make that... Make that seven..." a familiar voice floated in from behind them.

"Naruto!" She spun around to see the short boy limping towards them.

"Naruto, you shouldn't be walking. Your legs..." Was that concern she heard in Sakura's voice? For Naruto? Just what had happened to him after they'd been split up?

"Yeah, I know. They exploded." The blonde kunoichi hoped he didn't mean that literally. Judging by the bandages and the fresh blood that soaked into them with each step, though, he might have. "So..." He smirked, before flipping over to stand on his hands. Everyone but herself, Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee gave him an incredulous look. He glared upside-down at the two enemy ninja. "Unless you guys really think you can take us all on at once, you should leave now."

Apparently, whoever ran Otogakure didn't bother teaching their ninja common sense or basic math, because the idiots attacked anyway. Black-hair prepared another wind blast, and the ones who had seen the attack earlier threw themselves to the sides, Ino grabbing Shino and Kiba Lee. Naruto followed their leads and sprang into the air.

The pressurized air missed everyone and impacted harmlessly against the tree. Looking up, she could se her teammate going through handseals and smirked on recognizing the sequence. It was time tube boy saw (and experienced) a _real_ wind jutsu.

"**Fuuton: Daitoppa"** (wind element: great breakthrough)

The Yamanaka heard several bones snap under the unrelenting force of the stream of wind, and the boy fainted from a combination of pain and pressure. As Naruto was coming in for a landing, though, she could see the other one closing in to hit him the moment he touched down. Not good. She cut him off with two handfuls of well-aimed shuriken.

Team seven and Sakura moved to surround the lone enemy. Finally realizing his situation, the genin slumped over in defeat. "Let me leave with my teammates, and I'll hand over my scroll," he announced.

"Not so fast," Ino called out. "What was it you wanted with Sasuke?" Not that she really cared about the ice-block Uchiha himself anymore, but something about this just didn't add up.

The boy turned his one visible eye to her. "Our master's orders were to kill Uchiha Sasuke during this exam. That's all."

Naturally, Forehead had something to say about that. "Your master? Who are you working for? Is it Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru? The S-ranked missing nin? What did he have to do with this? Regardless, it seemed the kunoichi was correct, by the sharp intake of breath.

"How did you-"

Naruto cut him off. "I get it. Before you go, you should know you were being used. Orochimaru had meant to give Sasuke-teme this thingy that would've warped his mind and given him a big power boost. You three were meant to test him and lose to him."

The sound ninja seemed to consider this for a moment before he came to some sort of understanding. "Thank you for the information. I and my team shall trouble you no more." So saying, he placed his earth scroll on the ground, walked slowly over to his teammates, picked up first the girl then the boy, and leapt away.

Once he was gone, Kiba turned to the trees off to the right. "You can come out whenever you want, you know." Two figures she recognized as Lee's teammates landed softly on the grass.

"You too, Bastard," her fellow blonde added. The next moment, Sasuke leapt in as well, complete with his superior smirk, though with undertones of annoyance at being discovered.

"While you two were fooling around taking care of the idiot, I replaced one of our lost scrolls. Looks like you managed to scrounge up an earth scroll to go with it." He shot a questioning glance at Lee's Hyuuga teammate.

"We have both our scrolls already. Tenten and I came here for him." He gestured to the green-clad boy.

As the Uchiha reached out for the scroll, Ino was about to protest (as was Kiba, by his expression), since they had been the ones to do most of the work, but a glance from Naruto told her to let it go. He'd better have a damn good explanation if he wanted to avoid a smacking.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Team seven, he decided, looking over himself and his teammates, was in really bad condition. And still an earth scroll short of their goal. Right now, he was seriously pissed off at himself for what Ino and Kiba called his "self-sacrificing, masochistic nature," as well as seriously glad he always packed an extra set of clothes in his supplies.

His legs were healing a hell of a lot slower than normal, probably from the sheer extent of the damage they'd taken, and weren't back up to even half their usual strength yet, despite it being almost a full twenty four hours. It hurt like crazy every time he moved them, too, but the blonde had had a lot worse. The seal thingy, too, caused a sharp pain every time he used chakra, and he could feel the snake-freak's presence in the back of his mind, though it paled in comparison to the Kyuubi.

The other three were a lot worse off, having neither inhuman endurance nor healing. The damage they'd taken during that tiger attack were draining on them especially and needed proper medical attention soon. His friends tried to pretend they were all right, and he let them think he was fooled for the sake of their pride, but the exhaustion was obvious.

They needed to find a weak team with the right scroll, get it, and get to the tower that night, because he wasn't sure the others could last another day.

"Akamaru's got something," Kiba announced. "Three chakra signatures, none of them very strong, all resting, about a mile that way." He pointed ahead and to the right. Good, so they could keep heading in the general right direction.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" he asked. The three genin adjusted their course.

Several minutes later, they'd reached the source of the chakra signatures: an older team of genin, looking to be in their late thirties and wearing Konoha headbands. One of the men was actually holding their earth scroll in his hands as they discussed their situation, including the possibility of just giving up; something about not being able to compete with all the fierce youngsters in the exam.

What luck! They'd probably be able to convince them to trade for the scroll and get it without a fight! So thinking, team seven decided to to be open and honest, walking out of the bushes empty-handed.

"Who's there?" the older kunoichi, a tall woman with pale skin, long black hair, and eyes an unusual shade of green, called out the moment the team heard the rustling noise, all three immediately on the defensive.

"Relax, we're Konoha too, and we're not here to fight," Naruto answered as he and the other two came into sight.

The man holding the scroll, a couple inches shorter than his teammates, hair and eyes both black, gave them an inquisitive look. "What do you want, then?"

Ino, being the most diplomatic, was the one to respond. "We overheard part of your conversation and were wondering if you'd be willing to trade for your scroll. As you can see, my teammates and I are all badly injured, so we'd like to get to the tower as fast as possible without unnecessary fighting. We've got supplies: kunai, shuriken, all in good condition, wire, soldier pills, exploding tags, poisons, bandages, and enough meat to last you the rest of the five days."

By their expressions, they seemed to be considering it. At least, the two who had spoken were. The last member of the genin team, a large red-haired man with dark grey eyes a sizable scar running dangerously close to the left one, was just looking at them intently. More specifically, looking at _him_ intently, and not in a good way.

Naruto knew that look. It was not one he liked.

"Sounds good to me," the woman said after a moment. "Kanbei?"

The shortest of the three nodded. "I agree. Seems we just aren't cut out for chunin after all. We make the trade, hole up somewhere to wait out the rest of the exam, and spend our remaining years doing nice, simple D- and C-ranks. What d'you say, Tajomaru?"

The burly man stayed silent, just glaring.

The Inuzuka too a step forward "You got a problem, with us, mister?" he asked threateningly.

"Kiba, back off," Naruto ordered. Then he turned to the angry man. "If you have something to say, go ahead and say it. We all know about the fox, so you won't be breaking any laws."

"You killed my team and the woman I loved, Kyuubi," he spat.

The blonde had thought he was prepared but found his own temper rising regardless. "Okay, let's get one thing clear. I'm not the fucking kitsune. The bastard's stuffed inside me, and if I thought I could get rid of it by killing myself, I'd have chopped off my own head months ago. I'm sorry you lost people, but so did pretty much everyone, even me."

Now the man was really enraged. He made to charge him, only to be restrained by his own teammates. "You? Even if I believe you, it means you were just a baby! What the hell did you have to lose, huh?"

"Try my parents and my childhood, you bastard!" he screamed.

Kanbei and the kunoichi relaxed their grips out of shock. It was a mistake.

The large man leapt at him with a roar, kunai flashing. Ino, Kiba, and Akamaru rushed in, as did the two older ninja.

Usually, battle was one of the few things that always made sense to the blonde. Fighting and gardening. Everything was always just so clear.

But not this time.

This time, it wasn't a battle.

Everyone was angry, and confused, and in pain, himself included.

There was a spurt of red.

Blood. Not his.

Whose?

He flung his arms out and back, knocking everyone else away, needing to see who was hurt.

It was the man, Tajomaru. A large, deep gash that started just below his right shoulder and made its way down about halfway through his abdomen, just missing the heart.

Naruto lowered the man, not moving out of shock and pain, but still breathing, to the ground, as gently and quickly as he could, dredged up memories of first-aid classes at the Academy guiding his actions. "Someone get some fucking bandages, now!"

A kunai sharpened with wind chakra sliced through the thick clothing, revealing the extent of the damage. His free hand reflexively snatched the bandages out of midair as they flew at him.

"Tajomaru. Oi, Tajomaru! Can you hear me Tajomaru? You're gonna be okay, just stay with us, all right?" The man's eyes were unfocused as he wrapped the bandages, his breathing and heartbeat shallow.

"Either of you know medical jutsu?" Two shaking heads. "Damn it!"

"Then painkillers, something, anything!" The bandages weren't helping. Not enough. They were soaked red with blood as fast as he could wrap them. His hands, too, wet and slippery.

Naruto wasn't about to let yet another person die because of him. Not like this.

His heartbeat slowed, and the breaths were coming in strangled gasps, blood coming in and out with the air. "FUCK!"

The man's chakra started to drain away, and Naruto began pumping his own into the body, hoping to keep it running.

There had to be something he could do! But he just couldn't think! No time, too much blood-

That was it! Blood! His blood! He wiped his thumb clean, brought it to his mouth, and bit down hard, while slicing the bandages open and looking for a major vein or artery.

"Naruto, NO! You don't know what'll happen!" Ino. She and Kiba grabbed him, trying to stop him. Didn't they see this could work? No time, he shook them off and placed his thumb over a small cut in the big vein leading to the heart. He needed to read some anatomy books. One drop, then he started pouring as much chakra into the body as he could, hoping it would somehow speed up the effects and stop them before they went too far.

Seconds later, steam began to rise from the wound, and he let his friends drag him back, exhausted and happy. Now if his luck held...

But the changes kept going. After the gash healed, Tajomaru let out a long, deafening scream of pain, his whole body thrashing about wildly on the forest floor as muscles thickened dramatically, bones snapped and reformed, teeth grew and sharpened.

He tore himself from his teammates' grip, throwing himself at the writhing man. "No no no no no! Stop! Please no!" A flailing arm smashed into his chest, breaking a rib as his body sailed into a tree trunk twenty yards away.

The deformed creature that had once been a Konoha ninja stood on two legs, though hunched over, breathing heavily. Its eyes showed nothing but madness, pain, and rage, waiting to be unleashed at a moment's notice.

"T-Tajomaru?" the kunoichi, whose name he still didn't know, called out tentatively.

"Stay back, all of you!" he commanded. "It's not your teammate anymore. I'm sorry, I... This is my mistake, so I should be the one to fix it. Kiba, Ino, if you could fill them in on what's going on..."

"But Naruto, you can't-" He shut the other blonde up with a stern glare, before turning back to the beast in front of them.

He could still remember in detail what the ones before had been like. Savage, wild, brutal, fast, powerful, and tough, with regenerative abilities that far surpassed his own under normal circumstances. Of course, at the time, he'd been in a similar state and was able to quite literally tear them to pieces with ease. Trying to fight head-on in current conditions, however, would end up with him being the one in pieces. His only hope was a powerful blow straight to the heart or head. At least this one didn't have claws.

"Hey, ugly!" he shouted at it, "Over here!"

The creature threw itself at him and Naruto dodged its blind rush with a quick sideways leap, barely avoiding a fist that tore straight through the wood behind him. He poured wind chakra into a kunai and hurled the weapon at the hulking beast's heart as it spun to face him again. The short range made it impossible to miss, but the thrown weapon just didn't have the necessary force, not able to get through the thick chest muscle.

Not having time to dodge the next attack, the young ninja reinforced his body with chakra and threw himself backwards to lessen the damage. Even with that, two of his ribs shattered and he slammed into a tree so hard he sank into the wood a couple inches.

There wasn't any time for a breather, though, as his opponent threw itself at him in a way that would probably crush his body to a bloody pulp. Sticking to his position on the tree with chakra, he went through handseals.

"**Fuuton: Reppusho"**

The concentrated blast of wind hit the creature dead in the chest, but, unlike what he had hoped, the kunai embedded there was knocked out to the side instead of further in. The jutsu still knocked the raving beast all the way back into the tree they had started by, as well as causing large gashed that made it howl in pain.

Naruto would need a weapon of some kind, something he could put his full strength behind. Fists wouldn't do here, kunai and shuriken didn't have enough force, Asuma-sensei hadn't taught him any of the more powerful piercing wind jutsu yet, and using enough exploding tags to kill the monster would doubtless get him caught in the blast as well. He also needed to make sure its attention stayed solely on him. Ino and Kiba wouldn't last five seconds in their conditions, and the two older genin were in too much shock to react in time to any potential attacks. He looked around wildly for anything he could use until, suddenly, his mind came up with a brilliant idea. As the creature came at him again, wounds already fully healed, he dashed up the side of the tree. It followed, hands and feet digging into the bark, allowing it to climb after him.

Considering the awkward way it was climbing, the beast was surprisingly fast, and he had to push his recovering legs to their limit to stay ahead of it, toning out the pain in his chest as rib fragments jostled about with each movement. The young genin kept going up, higher and higher, until he reached the thinnest branches, the ones that were closer in size to ordinary tree branches instead of being more like ordinary trees.

Now came the really really risky part. He ran out onto one of the branches, going all the way to the end where it was thinnest, the huge creature following. Thinking it had him trapped, the thing stalked toward him slowly. But the boy was nowhere near trapped. A carefully aimed shuriken penetrated its left eye, half-blinding it until the organ had time to heal and sending it into an even more wild rage than before.

The blonde kneeled down and drove his fist powerfully into the wood in front of him, resulting in the branch breaking and him falling. The furious creature leapt after him a second later. He wasn't particularly concerned about the height, having survived falls off the much higher Hokage monument without any serious damage in the past. Of course, his legs had been in perfect condition at the time, but the best plans were always the ones with a bit of danger mixed in. As he fell, he grabbed the branch tightly in both hands.

About ten seconds later, Naruto's feet impacted with the ground harshly, sending a jolt up his whole body that made the bones in his healing legs crack and rattled his broken ribs painfully. Ignoring that, he focused on his target, the monster coming down right on top of him. Channeling chakra into the tree branch in his hands to keep it from breaking apart on impact, he aimed, then thrust upward with his entire body in a single smooth motion, the long wooden object pointing straight at the thing's heart.

It went in, it came out, and the creature stilled, the young ninja now supporting its dead weight. He released the branch, letting it topple over to the side with a dull thud, and promptly passed out from exhaustion and pain.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Of all the stupid, thoughtless, downright crazy things he'd known his teammate to do, this one took the top of the list, even passing up jumping into an S-class missing nin to protect a stuck up jerk. "Thanks for this, Kanbei-san," he said to the shinobi traveling just behind him. He and Yuuko, the dead man's teammates, had agreed to accompany them to the tower after the conscious members of team seven helped cremate the body of what had once been their friend. Yuuko carried Naruto's unconscious body, while Kanbei held the container with the ashes.

The two older genin had been calm and understanding on hearing about the experiments that had been done with Naruto's blood after they were captured, though he and Ino had avoided mentioning as much as possible, including Youkaigakure and anything about Asuka. They also left out the details about the blonde boy and the full extent of his connection to the Kyuubi, letting them think that what had happened was just because he contained the fox.

From what he and Akamaru could smell from the other ninja, together with the way they were acting, neither seemed to bear Naruto any ill will, either for holding the kitsune or for the stuff with their teammate. They understood that his friend had been trying desperately to save him and just went a bit too far. And then he'd taken full responsibility for his mistake, risking his life to fix what he'd caused.

Because that was the kind of guy Uzumaki Naruto was. Every day, Kiba felt like more and more of an idiot for not believing in him from day one of the Academy and was thankful for being placed on his team, as it had given him the chance to get to know the blonde better.

"Akamaru and I aren't picking up anyone else between us and the tower. We should make it there okay." The Inuzuka and his companion had been using their noses to to detect and steer clear of the many traps and opposing teams that had been in their way. The other three nodded in acknowledgment. It had been a pretty quiet trip, everyone wrapped up in their own thoughts, with the occasional question to break the silence, usually from the older ninjas.

"Uuuhhh... Oooohh..." They all stopped on the next branch at the sound of the blonde boy stirring. He slid off of Yuuko's back and stumbled over to the tree trunk, leaning against it to support his weight. "Everyone okay? Where are we?"

Ino, now standing closest to him, was the one to answer. "We're fine, Naruto, as are Kanbei-san and Yuuko-san. We're a little less than a mile away from the tower."

His eyes shifted to the green-eyed woman. "Yuuko-san... So that's your name. I'm sorry about what happened to your teammate. If we hadn't come-"

But the kunoichi cut him off. "You have nothing to apologize for, Naruto-kun. Everything that will happen will happen regardless of what we might do."

"Hey, kid," Kanbei spoke up before the boy could say anything more, "if you're feeling up to it, we should get moving again. We're not alone in this forest, remember?"

The blonde nodded in acknowledgment. "Sure thing. Lead the way, Kiba," he added, turning to face him briefly.

The dog boy nodded back, and they continued heading to the tower. As they went, he could hear Naruto asking what had happened while he was out, how much the older genin had been told, things like that. The rest of the trip to the tower was uneventful.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

Whew. There was a lot of stuff crammed into this chapter, like, say, the entire forest of death. First of all, let me say that anyone who doesn't get the title is probably too young to be reading this story. That, or you've lived under a rock your whole life.

Now, the opening of this chapter was probably the part that gave me the most problems writing it. I couldn't decide if I wanted to start with them meeting the Iwa nins, entering the forest, whose point of view to do it from, etc. In fact, I ended up writing and deleting stuff three or four times before I ended up with what you see. Normally, I don't do that.

As for the fight itself, I hope everyone enjoyed it. I'm really teasing you all with these three, aren't I? Showing just a tiny bit more about them each time they come up. Don't worry, though, they'll be back for the preliminaries.

About Naruto and his use of an S-rank ninjutsu in this chapter, hopefully I made that believable. It's not something he can just throw around like he usually does kage bunshin, nor would he even be capable of using it during a normal battle.

Orochimaru. It seems to me that Orochimaru's biggest weakness is his arrogance, and it's because of that arrogance Naruto was able to interfere as he did. The whole cursed seal takes months to prepare thing was something I came up with on my own, obviously. There's a variety of reasons I did this, most of which will become clearer later on in the story. Hopefully the way I wrote his messing up made it seem realistic. The subsequent outburst of anger is, I know, a little out of character for him, but it's there for a reason, like pretty much everything else.

Not a lot to say about the Sakura scene. I tried to write it in a way that showed just how confused, scared, and out-of-whack she is, which are the reasons for her abnormal behavior. For her, everything is pretty much a blur at the time, which is why she makes no objections when it comes time to bandage Naruto.

The next scene is another one I don't have much to say about. It's pretty straightforward, and the tigers are there mostly to remind everyone that the other ninja aren't the only dangers in the forest, a fact many writers forget when writing this exam. I originally meant to show more of the fight but couldn't find a way to write it that didn't seem boring.

The short bit in Naruto's mind is basically there as his equivalent of what goes on in canon Sasuke's head at this point. Of course, Naruto, being all-around awesomer than Sasuke, doesn't give in the lust for power , so the seal never activates.

And a fourth action sequence in this chapter, where Ino and Kiba's teamwork really saves the day. Again, I hope this is a believable fight. And again, not really anything else to say.

The entire segment with the team of older Konoha genin, Tajomaru, Yuuko, and Kanbei, is a bit like Isami back in chapter sixteen in the sense that it was completely unplanned. Originally, I was going to have our protagonists beat up a team from another village, but that would have been boring, even with all four in really bad shape. Then, my next idea was for them to run into a team of Naruto-haters, but that felt too unrealistic and cliched. I still wanted to use something from that, though, and it evolved into what you see above.

Then, as usual, I have a short concluding scene. Also, to anyone who likes either of the manga/anime I could have potentially stolen Yuuko from (yes, the same character plays a major role in two separate series), you have great taste.

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beta readers: ching965, Orion


	21. conversations with ninja people

**chapter 21**

**conversations with ninja people**

Sarutobi Asuma was smoking his cigarette, relaxing in a chair in one of the tower's many lounges, when he felt the gentle tug of the summoning jutsu from his team's heaven and earth scrolls. The bearded man stood up, put out his cigarette (if he didn't all three genin would shout at him), and gave in to the pull on his chakra from the short-range summoning seal.

A moment later, he was surrounded by smoke and could pick up not only the chakra signatures of his students but two unknown ones as well.

"Asuma-sensei!" Kiba called out in surprise and happiness, no doubt picking up his scent. Seconds after that, the smoke cleared, allowing him to take full stock of the situation. All three genin were in pretty bad condition, though Naruto was the worst off, having to lean against a wall to support his weight.

"Hey you three. What happened?" he asked with a puzzled glance at the two older genin who were standing in the back of the room.

Ino, being in slightly better condition than the Inuzuka, took it upon herself to answer. "There were several... incidents... during our time in the forest. We'll need to meet with Hokage-sama as soon as possible, as will the two of them. Did team ten make it in okay?"

Team ten... That was Kakashi's team. "Yes, they came in late this afternoon. Why do you ask?" The young ninjas let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, making him even more confused. Had something happened to the other genin team he hadn't heard about? "Anyway, what you all need right now is medical attention and rest. After that, I'll arrange a meeting with my dad."

"No," Naruto said, with as much force as he was able to muster in his exhausted state. "We need to see Hokage-jiji _now_. Medical attention isn't gonna help with this." The boy gestured to something on his neck. Focusing on the area, Asuma saw that what he had first taken for a bruise from this distance was actually...

He gasped. What the hell? If Naruto had a cursed seal on his neck, that meant Orochimaru really had infiltrated the Exams. Anko and two ANBU teams had spent last night combing the forest for the man but had come up empty-handed, without a single piece of evidence except the three dead bodies that had started the search. "Right. Considering your conditions, we'll have the meeting right here." He took out a bundle of privacy seals, glad he always carried the things with him, split it in four, and handed a section to each of the more stable genin. "Place these no more than a meter apart on all the walls, floor ceiling, and entrances. I'll go get the Hokage."

Fortunately, his old man was already inside the tower in preparation for the announcement before the third exam, so he shunshined towards his temporary office.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I see." The Sandaime, smelling mostly of tobacco, as he always did, turned a stern gaze on the two older genin. "Ichihara Yuuko, Shimada Kanbei, you both understand that this information about Naruto is an S-class secret, and the penalty for revealing it is death, correct?" They both nodded. "Good, you are dismissed. I will speak with you further on this, as well as on the mater of your deceased teammate, when I am finished here."

Bowing to the old man, and giving a brief goodbye to the genin of team seven, who quickly returned the gesture, the two walked out.

"Now," the Hokage turned his brown eyes back to them, "it seems you also encountered Orochimaru. Tell me about that."

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Sarutobi Hiruzen had a headache. Said headache was entirely understandable, given everything that had happened. He had Iwa getting suspicious of Naruto's parentage, classified secrets being spilled out in the middle of an exam, a genin team failing to report a run-in with an S-rank missing-nin, said S-rank missing-nin being his former student Orochimaru, and the problem currently before him.

A headache was the last thing he needed when preparing to place a suppression seal on one of the traitorous Sannin's curse marks, especially when said curse mark was on Naruto. One wrong move, and the shiki fuujin could be disrupted. If anything were to go seriously wrong with that seal,...

But he hadn't earned his title as the God of Shinobi for nothing. "All right, Naruto. Are you ready?"

The blonde boy, sitting shirtless in the middle of the room, covered in symbols written in both ink and blood, nodded. "I think so. But you still haven't told me what it is we're doing, Jiji."

"That cursed seal on your neck, even though you kept it from fully activating and completely suppressed the aspect that influences your emotions, is still affecting your body to an extent. You may have felt pain and had difficulty molding chakra; that is because the seal is spreading throughout your chakra network in an attempt to alter your chakra flow to support its needs. If we do nothing, the situation will worsen and may eventually weaken your control over the Kyuubi, something we cannot allow. The fuinjutsu I have prepared, the jubaku fuujikomeru (curse containment) will stop these effects as long as you keep the seal from activating." As he spoke, he gazed into the boy's blue eyes, eyes filled with a youthful curiosity that reminded him so much of Minato. "Does fuuinjutsu interest you, Naruto?"

The young ninja nodded vigorously. "Yeah, of course! I mean it's so cool!" In his excitement, he leapt to his feet and began emphasizing his words with hand gestures, while at the same time keeping conscious of the fact that he was standing at the center of a delicate seal array Hiruzen had spent the past hour setting up. The boy took care not to disturb the work in any way. "You just draw some lines on paper, add chakra, and snap! you've got an exploding tag, or a barrier tag, or..."

The aged Hokage grinned down at the energetic boy he thought of as a second (or first, since he _was _born before Konohamaru, after all) grandson. He hadn't seen Naruto act like this in months, going on and on in such an animated fashion, not since before Iruka's tragic death. Oh, he was still a bundle of joy and energy most of the time, but the old man had begun to fear that childish exuberance had been permanently dulled by everything he had gone through since that night. It was refreshing to have said fears eased like this.

"...or this jubaku fuujiwhatsit you're using, or even this thing." he gestured at the spot on his abdomen where the seal holding the Kyuubi was located, his excitement dimming for the briefest of instants before returning full force. "Fuuinjutsu's awesome! But..." and here his face fell again, "I've got no one to teach me..."

So, young Naruto seemed well on his way to developing the same passion his father had had for the most complex of the ninja arts. It would be such a waste to squander potential like that just because so many were still wary of the child; he'd need to think-

Wait, this could work out perfectly. "Naruto, I might have a solution to that, actually..."

"Really? What? What? What's the solution, Jiji? Are you gonna teach me, or grab up some seal expert and make them teach me, or-"

He raised his hand, cutting the boy off. Yes, it was nice to know he could still be like this, but the blonde's loud voice combined with their being in a small stone room, resulting in a great deal of echoes, was serving to make his headache worse. "Nothing like that. Remember how I told you my pupil Jiraya is your godfather? Well, he should be arriving in Konoha in a day or two, and I am sure you will be able to convince him to take you as an apprentice"

The youngster smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks, Jiji, you're the best!"

"You're welcome, Naruto," he responded, reaching a hand out to ruffle the spiky blonde hair. Fond memories came back to the aged Hokage of a time not too long ago when he would have been able to perform said action without raising his arm, but that time was past. The adorable, optimistic little boy had grown into a fine, strong young ninja over the years, and especially over the past few months. Even more than the physical evidence in the form of the firm, developing muscles on his body was the look in his eyes, a subtle maturity that showed through from behind whatever emotions he might be experiencing. "Now, let's do this sealing so I can get back to smoking my pipe."

They both chuckled lightly at that, then the boy returned to sitting on the floor in exactly the same position and posture he had held previously. "When I perform the jutsu, it will cause you extreme pain, as well as an odd constricting sensation, but you must remember not to move until it is done. Do not fight the feelings either, just bare with them for a few moments, and it will all be over. Ready?"

The young ninja tensed slightly in preparation, then gave a curt nod, eyes focused straight ahead on nothing at all. Hiruzen want through the forty two necessary activation handseals at a comfortable pace, before placing his right hand over the cursed seal on the front left side of the boy's neck.

"**Fuuinjutsu: Jubaku Fuujikomeru"** (sealing technique: curse containment)

Naruto gritted his teeth, holding back a scream, and his muscles contracted violently as the chakra-infused seals slid up his body and the wave of pain swept over him. The Sandaime was impressed, as always, by the boy's inhuman pain tolerance; having this seal performed on one gave roughly the feeling of being burned alive from the inside.

Nine seconds after it started, the process was done, and the young ninja fell forward on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. "That... hurt like hell..."

Just about anyone else would have passed out, or be on the verge of doing so. "Can you stand?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just... gimme a moment. Thanks, Jiji." He grinned.

The Sandaime grinned back. Naruto really was a special boy. "Of course. I care for all the people in Konoha; that is what it means to be Hokage."

The blonde sprang up suddenly, a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes, hand darting out swiftly to snatch his red-and-white headwear. Most chunin would likely have been unable to avoid the surprise assault, but Hiruzen was no chunin "Damnit. I'll have that hat of yours someday yet, Jiji."

The old man smiled. "I'm sure you will, Naruto. I'm sure you will."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ino made her way to the cafeteria on the tower's first floor for a late breakfast. After the tiring ordeal in the forest, coupled with just how late at night they had gotten in, the whole of team seven slept until well after sunrise, even Naruto.

On arriving at her destination, the blonde kunoichi made sure to grab a healthy variety and amount of food. She had long since given up on dieting, thankfully, her teammates and sensei having succinctly pointed out the advantages of proper eating. Being lectured on good nutrition by a ramen addict of all people had been one of the most embarrassing moments of her young life, especially when her attempt at calling him on his own eating habits had backfired. She'd had no idea the Ichirakus served a special "health ramen," complete with all the vitamins and minerals needed for a growing young ninja.

Looking around the mostly vacant tables for a place to sit, her blue eyes instantly locked on to the sight of a familiar face, the only other person in the room at the moment. "Hey, Forehead," she called out in greeting, sitting down across from her friend.

"Hi, Ino," the girl responded dully, picking at the three pieces of lettuce that made up her meal, eyes downcast.

A five year old could have recognized that something was troubling her. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

She slowly opened up, telling her the problems just as she had when they were children. "I... Sasuke-kun, he... I was... useless, and I shouted at Sasuke-kun."

"Useless? I doubt that. You helped your team get through the forest, didn't you? And you and Shino took care of Naruto when he got hurt, remember?" She purposely didn't comment on the Sasuke issue. If her friend still wanted to waste her time chasing after the brooding ice cube, that was her business.

Green eyes looked up, beginning to shimmer with unshed tears. "But all I did was get in the way! I got Lee-san and Shino hurt, I nearly left Naruto, and I wasn't able to help Sasule-kun at all! Then, just this morning, we all got in trouble for not telling anyone about that incident with O-Orochimaru!" She shivered slightly in fear as she said the snake Sannin's name.

"Well that was just plain stupid. If you learn an S-rank missing-nin is after one of your teammates, it's your duty to report it," the Yamanaka reprimanded harshly.

"I know that!" she shouted in frustration. "But Sasuke-kun told me not to! He said it would just cause problems and-"

So much for keeping the Uchiha out of things. "And you listened to him? Try thinking for yourself every once in a while, Sakura!"

At that, her friend burst into tears. Ino felt like smacking herself; here she was trying to cheer the girl up, but instead she lost control of her own emotions and caused this.

The blonde waited a few moments before speaking again to give them both time to settle down. "Look, I'm sorry about that, okay? Let's try and avoid that boy for now and focus on the other stuff. Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to say that I'm glad you made it to the tower safely."

The pink-haired girl's mood picked up a little. "Thanks, you too. What took you so long, though? We were already nearly halfway to the tower when we met up back in the forest."

"Oh, we still needed an earth scroll," she answered casually.

The green-eyed kunoichi looked confused. "An earth scroll? Why didn't you just take the one from those Sound ninjas, then? Your team did most of the work in beating them, after all."

She sighed. "Thank Naruto for that. He thought it was more important for your team to get here as fast as possible, seeing as you had someone after you that none of us would stand a chance against." At that, the other girl became surprised and thoughtful, but she didn't give her time to think on it.

"Sakura, what do you think of yourself as a kunoichi?" she asked seriously. Because that was the root of the problem. For all she had grown, she was still the same little girl who hid he forehead behind her hair.

"I... Well, I..." she trailed off.

Her friend really hadn't needed to say anything, of course. "If you're disappointed in yourself there, it gives us something we can work on."

"R-really? How?" She was right: all the girl needed was a bit of confidence in herself, and the best and fastest way to get that was by training and growing stronger.

"Well," she smiled, "we've got a bit over two full days till the second exam ends and nothing to do during that time. I say we use it to make you a better kunoichi And we'll start by getting you some proper food!" So saying, the blonde snatched the plate away and ran off to get her friend something more substantial for breakfast.

When she returned, Sakura looked at the plate in horror. "I can't eat all that! I'll get fat!"

Ino glanced at the plate she was holding, then compared it to her own. Even now, it was still just short of being a full meal. She'd learned the hard way that trying to change one's eating habits too fast would result in vomiting. "Oh, come on, Forehead! I'm sure Asuma-sensei didn't let you eat like that when you were training with him in Wave country."

She looked thoughtful. "Well, no, but..." The thoughtfulness soon turned to outrage. "But I gained five pounds on that mission! I had to nearly starve myself to death afterwards to lose that weight!"

The blonde kunoichi sighed then gave her friend a stern glare. "Sakura, that was muscle, not fat. Muscle you desperately need. Now eat up, then you're coming to train with me and my team. If being around Naruto doesn't motivate you to give your best, nothing will."

The girl still seemed doubtful, so she took it a step further, reaching into her pouch to take out an item she always carried with her. Sakura's ribbon. "The day you gave this back to me, you told me that you wouldn't lose to me as a kunoichi. Are you going back on that now?"

That worked. Green eyes gleamed competitively. "Not a chance, Ino-pig," she responded before digging into her food with relish. Ino smiled, happy her idea had worked, and put the ribbon away before doing the same.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gaara wasn't hard to find. Remembering his first meeting with the psycho redhead and thinking about what he himself would have done in a similar situation led Naruto to the tower roof about an hour past midnight. Sure enough, he was there, staring up at the half full moon, almost as though he had been waiting for him.

"Gaara." The young genin made sure to keep a little space between them and didn't fully relax. The other boy had threatened to kill him, after all.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Before these exams are done, Mother will have your blood." Yeah, definitely a psycho killer.

He had to stop for a moment at that and remind himself just why he was doing this. The Sand nin was like him, a jinchuriki, and more than that it was like seeing a warped reflection of himself, what he could have turned out as had things in his life gone differently.

While he knew delicate topics were supposed to be approached subtly, Naruto wasn't the kind of person for subtlety. "I have a demon sealed in me, too."

That caught the redhead's interest. Green eyes studied him silently for several seconds. "Then killing you shall be the ultimate proof of my existence."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" the blonde demanded.

"I exist to end the existence of others. That is what makes me strong. By taking your life, the life of someone like myself, I will feel more alive than ever before." The psychotic gleam in his pale eyes intensified.

Naruto stared at him in shock. For the other boy to think like that, that his purpose in life was to kill people...

"That's ridiculous!" the Konoha ninja blurted out. "There's no way you can hope to kill me with crazy thinking like that! Real strength comes from love and friendship, and wanting to protect that, not some sick, twisted desire to prove yourself more powerful!"

Gaara just looked at him for several seconds before he started to speak. "I took my mother's life when I was born. My father, the Kazekage, ordered her used as a sacrifice to seal my demon within me. Father wanted to make me into a weapon, but in he end, even he grew terrified of me. He has sent assassins after me ever since I was six, trying to fix his mistake. Not useable as the weapon I was created to be, I had no reason to exist, so I had to find that reason for myself. And I did."

And here he was, thinking they were alike. Maybe he really was an idiot.

"Now, DIE!"

The blonde's instincts saved his life right then, making him jump away just as a speeding wave of sand crashed onto the roof where he had been standing with enough force to crush his body to a pulp.

His body was urging him to fight, use jutsus, kunai, shuriken, and the Kyuubi seemed to be eagerly anticipating battle as well. But that wasn't what he'd come here for, so he resisted the urge, instead just dodging the redhead's waves of sand.

"Why do you not attack me, Uzumaki Naruto? You claim to have power, then show it to me! Show me your strength!" Gaara's chakra level and killing intent were rising exponentially, and he could feel the demon's chakra as well, starting to slip out into the boy. This was about to get really dangerous really fast.

Then, in a sudden blur of motion, they were no longer alone. Asuma-sensei, Gai-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, psycho snake lady, scar-head... Even Jiji was there!

As was a Suna jonin, who must have been the redhead's sensei. The man stepped towards his student. "Gaara, stop this. Fighting right now will get you disqualified, remember?"

"Hmph. Whatever." The boy relaxed, his sand returning to the gourd on his back.

"Now that that's settled, let's all get back to bed," Jiji said in a stern, commanding voice. Slowly, everyone departed for their own rooms, Naruto included.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba sat down against the wall a couple feet from Sakura, taking a short break from training as his two blonde teammates kept going at it.

He regarded the pink-haired kunoichi next to him with curiosity. It had been quite the shock yesterday when Ino had barged in on them with the other girl in tow, saying she would be joining them for training.

Neither of the boys had been particularly happy about it, Naruto especially. The short male didn't really like spending time around her, still mad at himself for wasting so much time crushing on her.

The time spent with team ten's kunoichi however, turned out quite, different from their expectations. When not around that stuck-up bastard Uchiha, she was actually a pretty nice girl, highly intelligent, and with a hidden determination and strength sometimes when training that the Inuzuka quite approved of.

They also learned that Hatake Kakashi was lazy to a degree that made Asuma-sensei seem as lively and energetic as Naruto by comparison. In the whole six months since graduation, he'd taught his genin absolutely nothing individually and hardly anything as a team, focusing on trying to get them to work together.

"It's too bad your chakra is earth-natured," he commented, trying to make conversation. In an attempt to help her, they'd gone to Asuma-sensei and begged a piece of chakra paper off the jonin, only to find out she had the one affinity none of them had training in.

"Yeah," she responded, "but I've still had a better time training these past two days than the whole six months under Kakashi-sensei." None of them knowing any ninjutsu to teach her, they'd focused on taijutsu. As the genin of team seven were quick to discover, Sakura's blows packed a hell of a lot of force, even if they were slow and predictable. Naruto was now the only one willing to take her hits.

Since they couldn't do much anything about her strength, speed, and stamina in just two days, the three had spent most of the time getting her to think tactically and like a fighter. Just as Asuma-sensei had instructed them to study opponents carefully to find openings and weaknesses to take advantage of, they passed the teaching on to her.

"Thanks for helping me with all this," Sakura said, looking at him sincerely. ""Really, you guys are great friends, even Naruto-baka. I'm not sure how to repay you."

The girl leaned forward, and he suddenly found himself feeling very uncomfortable. Gratefulness like this wasn't the kind of thing he was used to dealing with. Fortunately, Akamaru felt his emotions and jumped in to save him from the awkward situation, literally. He leapt at the girl's face and started licking her all over. Sakura backed away, laughing and fake-protesting.

Any possibility of picking the conversation back up was dashed when the other kunoichi hurtled through the air and slammed hard into the wall right between the two genin. Before she even had time to hit the ground, Naruto was pinning her against the stone with his left hand, the right holding a kunai to her throat, signaling the end of their spar.

The shorter blonde released his opponent. "Wanna do a four-on-one this time? See how long I can last?"

Kiba grinned. "We'll hand you your ass in under a minute!"

Ino shook off her dazedness and got into a combat stance. "You're on, Naruto."

"Hell yeah!" Everyone froze. Then, as one, they slowly turned to Sakura, the source of the final outburst, looks of shock and confusion on all their faces. She looked back at them for several seconds. "What? I'm excited!" Then she lunged at the completely unprepared orange-clad boy, starting the fight with a direct, hard punch to his face.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I wonder what'll happen tomorrow," Naruto mused, as he and his teammates got ready for bed. The demon container had decided to turn in earlier than his usual tonight, not wanting to risk another confrontation with Gaara.

For reasons of privacy, he and Kiba were staring straight at a wall of their small room as they changed, while Ino did the same at the opposite wall.

The dog boy glanced over at him for an instant. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Who's passed the second exam so far, again?"

"Well," the only girl in the room commented, undoubtedly ticking off teams on her fingers as she named them, "there's us, obviously, Forehead and her group, those three from Suna, I ran into Lee earlier so we know they passed, and while we've been lucky enough to nor see them, if those Iwa nins aren't here, I'll shave my head."

"I caught their scent a couple times, so your hair is safe, Ino," the blue-eyed boy responded as he pulled his tee shirt up over the top of his head. "I hope Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chouji make it in tomorrow. It'd be really neat if our whole class got through the forest."

The Inuzuka picked up on his real thoughts right away. "Hey, they'll be fine. Those three make a damn good team."

"Seriously, Naruto, you worry way too much sometimes," the other blonde scolded.

He pouted, even though no one could see it, as he pulled on his sleep pants. "I do not! I'm just concerned, that's all. Don't want anything bad to happen to my friends."

"What did Asuka-chan do today?" Ino asked suddenly.

Her abrupt change of topic was a bit disorienting, but he answered anyway, the kage bunshin watching over his little sister having created and dispelled a clone of his own to update the original. "She woke up around six, had instant beef ramen, milk, and bread for breakfast, then we played hide-and-seek till nine. After that, she went to the park and played tag with Hitori-chan and Kenji-kun. Nearly tripped and fell fourteen times. Around two-"

She cut him off. "See, you worry too much," the girl announced proudly.

"Again, no I don't," he protested. "What's wrong with wanting to make sure she's safe?"

"Naruto, you counted the number of times she almost fell." Great, now they were both against him.

"I just don't like it when the people close to me get hurt," he admitted after a moment.

"Then you're in the wrong profession," Ino stated. "Oh, and I'm done changing now."

The boys, having finished half a minute ago, turned around, and each of the genin went to their own beds.

"Goodnight," Naruto said.

"Night." Kiba.

"Arf." Akamaru.

"Sleep well." Ino.

The blonde boy wasn't particularly tired, but being able to sleep at any time was a necessary skill for a ninja, one Asuma-sensei had drilled into them months ago, and he soon drifted into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

This chapter was pretty hard to write, in large part because, when I started, I had almost no idea what I wanted to have happen in it. I just knew something was needed between the forest and the prelims, so I used this time to set up for things that are coming later.

The first scene is pretty standard, and I don't have much of anything to point out about it. Except that you'll notice the large difference from canon, where Orochimaru did not hang around the forest to meet up with Anko.

The short bit after that was put in solely so I could give Yuuko and Kanbei's last names. I already mentioned where I got Yuuko from, and Japanese film lovers might recognize Kanbei's full name. It's hard to tell, but this scene was actually written from Kiba's point of view.

The scene after that, with the Sandaime and Naruto, was one I particularly liked writing. Also, the Hokage used a different jutsu on Naruto's cursed seal than what Kakashi used in canon. Again, not a whole lot else I can think of to say about it.

Ino and Sakura's interaction in this chapter turned out really well, I think. With this, I'm trying to get Sakura's development to around the same point as it was in canon here, as she is a bit behind currently. Also, she's one of my favorite characters when not in her fangirl stage, so I'm drawing her out of it.

Gaara's scene after that caused me a lot of trouble. I had to write, rewrite, and change it multiple times before ending up with something I was satisfied with. In the end, everything seemes to make sense and flow well enough, though.

With the Kiba/Sakura scene, I was thinking back to the bit I wrote between the during the Wave mission, remembering that I liked the way that turned out. Here, though, it feels more like a review of the stuff I skipped over than a conversation between them, but it serves its purpose.

And I finish off with a bit of team seven as a whole, showing once more how they are with each other before the preliminaries.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching965, Orion


	22. a bloody start

**chapter 22**

**a bloody start**

The twenty genin watched the names flash rapidly across the board, each one with his or her own thoughts. For his part, Naruto found a lot of different stuff all going through his head at once.

First of all, he was pretty damn excited about these preliminary matches and hoped he would get paired up with someone strong, preferably one of those bastards from Iwa.

Secondly, he was worried about team eight. Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chouji had gotten to the tower less than ten minutes ago, and all three looked to still be exhausted and hurting from their long time in the forest.

Then, there was Gaara; the thought of one of his friends potentially being in an all-out fight with the insane jinchuriki sent a chill down his spine. Hopefully, whoever got matched up with him would have the sense to forfeit before they were killed.

Finally, Kabuto's actions a minute ago had him confused. The glasses-wearing teen had quit, even though he was completely uninjured, and he'd overheard a bit of Jiji's following conversation with the psycho snake lady; apparently, the grey-haired genin had had dropped out at this same point every single exam he'd been to.

All those thoughts were driven from his mind when the board finally stopped. The short blonde breathed a sigh of relief: the first fight was that girl from Iwa against Gaara so he could calm his fears about someone he cared about being hurt by the redhead.

"Would everyone except for Shigure -cough- and Sabaku no Gaara please -cough- move up to the -cough- balcony?" Naruto hoped the jonin examiner wasn't as sick as he looked and sounded.

Not wanting to bother with the stairs, the blonde leapt to the upper part of the room, his teammates following his lead. Once the three genin were settled comfortably against the railing, looking out at the arena below, he felt Asuma-sensei appear behind them.

"What're your thoughts on this fight?" the bearded jonin asked his students, no doubt planning on turning this into a learning experience.

Kiba was the first to answer. "She's gonna die. Even if I didn't know that Suna nin was psycho with a demon sealed in him, what I'm feeling from Akamaru right now would tell me that much." The white-furred puppy, resting in the front of the boy's jacket, was trembling slightly in fear, clearly suppressing the urge to just curl up and whimper. Naruto, too, could pick out the demonic undertones in Gaara's chakra.

"Don't you think she'd just give up before it got to that point?" team seven's kunoichi asked hopefully.

"Ino, we fought those three back in the forest," the short boy reminded her. "They're not the type to give up."

The blue-eyed girl looked down sadly. "I know. I'd just rather not have to see such an unnecessary death."

Naruto almost made a joke about how she could always just close her eyes but held his tongue at the last moment. The blonde girl wouldn't have appreciated it. She had a point, too; while none of them held any liking whatsoever for the Stone nins, it wasn't like they deserved to die.

Asuma-sensei put a hand on her shoulder. "Death, including needless death, is a necessary part of being a ninja. You know this. Besides, from what you told me, those three are a threat. Removing emotion from the equation, one less of them is one less who could report their suspicions back to Iwa."

Talking amongst the members of team seven was put on hold then as the match began, and they all turned their attention to the arena floor.

The brown-haired kunoichi dashed at her opponent, intent on engaging the smaller boy in taijutsu. Gaara just stood there, unmoving, his arms crossed over his chest. When her fist was only inches away from his face, it impacted heavily against a dense barrier of sand.

Shigure leapt back a few meters, putting space between them to react to a counterattack that never came. "Impressive defense," she complimented. "Let's see how it holds up." She began forming handseals as pale green eyes gazed at her impassively, bored.

Since whatever she was using was most likely an earth jutsu, Naruto tuned out everything around him, focusing on her chakra in the hopes of getting some sort of understanding into how the damn things worked. The first thing he noticed, though, was that something about the girl's chakra flow was seriously weird, just like Ino had said about her teammate after the first exam. It felt... thin, and sort of shimmering, but interconnected with itself in ways he _knew_ the chakra coils didn't allow.

Pushing those thoughts aside, as he'd have time to study the weirdness later, the boy concentrated on the chakra going into the jutsu. There was a lot of it, a decent amount even by his standards, which his teammates had told him several times were simply ridiculous, flowing into not only her handseals but the floor around her as well. Was she planning on ending the fight here and now?

The doton chakra had a sort of solid, compact feel to it. Not dense or compressed, but filling and without a lot of movement. Then, the energy exploded into action, and the blonde snapped the rest of his senses back on, not willing to miss what happened next.

"**Doton: Assaiki no Iwa no Jutsu"** (earth element: rock crusher technique)

Large masses of rock, each about two meters wide and three tall, jutted up from the floor all around Gaara in a wide circle. Then, said rocks broke apart and the hundreds of chunks began floating in the air, making a sort of loose dome.

The Suna nin just gazed at his opponent, not the least bit concerned about whatever was about to happen.

Shigure slammed her hands together, palms flat against each other, and let out a sudden shout. The rocks responded by rushing in on their target from all directions. There was a deafening boom, and dust temporarily obscured his vision.

As it cleared, Naruto could make out a huge mass of rock resting in the center of a crater that spanned nearly half the width of the room. Most of the genin were staring on in shock.

The Iwa kunoichi shifted her gaze to the sickly proctor. "He's dead, call the mat-"

Her confident announcement was interrupted by a strange sort of crackling, crunching sound coming from the rock mass. Looking at it more carefully, the blonde could tell that the volumes didn't match up. All the rock chunks combined could only make something that size if there was empty space inside as well, just about the same amount of empty space as a person Gaara's size surrounded by a sphere of sand.

The girl looked on in wide-eyed disbelief as her rocks were slowly crushed into fine powder by the sand, the smell of blood coming off the grains somehow seeping into the remains of the rock as well. "Wh-what the hell are you?" she spat out when her opponent was finally visible again.

The redhead ignored her question and, with a wave of his arm, both the sand and her own rock particles flew at her.

What followed was close to five minutes of the brown-eyed ninja dodging around Gaara's ranged attacks, barely managing to keep ahead of the fast sand and slower but much larger mass of rock particles. At first, she would throw kunai and shuriken whenever there was an opening but stopped when none of them managed to get through. Every time she tried forming handseals for another jutsu, the ferocity of the Suna genin's attacks would increase, forcing her to abort.

The pattern couldn't keep up forever, though, and Shigure finally mis-stepped, her left foot getting caught in the brown grains. In an impressive display of strength, she yanked the appendage free, but not fast enough. More sand reached her upper arms, and even more followed right after, the rock particles close behind.

**"Sabaku Kyuu"**

Gaara called out his jutsu ominously, his right arm extended, hand open, the kunoichi now completely trapped in a huge floating mass of sand and rock.

**"Sabaku Sousou"**

He clenched his hand and, less than a second later, the sand and rock imploded, crushing the trapped girl and spattering everything within ten meters in blood, including several spectators. The redhead let the blood-soaked rock fall to the floor as his own sand returned to the gourd on his back. For a short time, the only sound was his footsteps as he walked towards the stairs.

"Winner: Sabaku no Gaara." The proctor coughed once after his announcement, and again Gaara's feet against the stone floor was the only sound.

After about fifteen seconds of stunned silence, people began talking again. "I haven't seen a kill that brutal in a long time." Asuma-sensei's voice was solemn. Naruto shuddered, his mind going back to the things he'd done in the Youkaigakure base. The whole thing with the Hidden Demon village was still frustrating to him, as last he'd heard from Jiji, they had yet to get any leads on the village itself, and there was no activity from them whatsoever.

The blonde was pulled from his thoughts when the next pair of names showed up on the board.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kenzo vs Akado Yoroi

Two Iwa nins in a row; that was unusual. Then again, Asuma reminded himself, holding preliminaries in the first place was pretty damn unusual to begin with. Yoroi wasn't a genin he was familiar with, despite him being from Konoha. That whole team normally kept to itself, as a matter of fact.

The large shinobi walked down to stand across from the brown-haired boy, whom he was only a couple inches taller than. "Ready to lose like your teammate just did, little rock?"

The boy grinned, his black eyes holding a superior look reminiscent of a certain Uchiha. "In my experience, rocks usually crush leaves." The way he was acting, it was like he didn't care that his teammate had just been savagely murdered. Sure, loyalty to teammates wasn't stressed nearly as much there as in Konoha, but that kind of blatant disregard was just unnatural.

Yoroi wasn't fazed. "We'll see. Just a warning, once my jutsu gets a hold of you, it's over." The bearded jonin frowned. A ninja should never be so overconfident in the strength of a single jutsu.

"Are both contestants -cough- ready?" They nodded. "Begin!" Hayate's chronic bronchitis seemed to be coming back again, and much worse than any of the previous times. He'd need to talk to his dad later about maybe giving the man some time off active duty.

The Iwa genin, Kenzo, dominated the fight from the moment it started. His speed and strength were quite something considering that he was only a year at most older than Asuma's team. The boy must have been put through some especially intense training for a large part of his life to be fighting at the level he was seeing now. His opponent was being tossed about the room like a ragdoll with nothing but taijutsu, not fast enough to even react to the younger ninja's attacks, let alone try to get in some of his own. The style he was using wasn't one the man recognized, not too surprising, with him being from a different village, but even Gai didn't show any sign of knowing it, meaning it was either secret or self-made.

After over two straight minutes of this savage beating, the brown-haired boy stopped, grinning down at his foe's broken body. "I told you rocks crush leaves." Nearly every bone in Yoroi's body had been broken, most in multiple places. His only hope of survival at this point would be if Tsunade-sama were to return to the village sometime in the next couple minutes.

"Winner -cough- Kenzo! I would like to remind -cough- you all that, while -cough- killing is allowed, it is preferred that you -cough- defeat your opponents without -cough- fatally injuring them." Yeah, Hayate would definitely be needing some time off soon.

"Asuma-sensei, I don't think I'd be able to beat those guys." He looked down at his student. The boy was clearly getting discouraged watching two so fierce of matches in a row like that, and seeing a fellow Leaf nin, albeit one he didn't know, beat to death hadn't helped.

Judging by Ino's expression, she was feeling much the same way.

"What the hell, Kiba?" the third genin blurted out. "It's not hard: whoever you get matched up with, you go down there and keep fighting till you've kicked their ass!"

The Inuzuka gave a small fake grin at his friend's boisterous attitude. "Yeah, easy for you to say. Most of us don't have all the advantages you do."

Naruto instantly became defensive, as was his habit whenever a conversation shifted towards the kitsune. "What the _hell_ d'you mean by that?" he growled out.

"You know exactly what I-" the dog boy started to shout, immediately rounding on his teammate, before he stopped and took a deep breath. "Naruto, you know damn well that Ino and us," he patted Akamaru on the head fondly, "can't match you in combat anymore, even working together."

The short blonde reached up to scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment. "You guys still give me a harder time than my clones do. But what's your point? You were talking about those Iwa bastards, not me." Now his face showed only confusion and puzzlement. It was always amazing how fast the boy's mood could change.

"Idiot." The team kunoichi hit him on the back of the head. "What Kiba's saying is that he and I can't fight the same way you do. We actually get tired every so often and can't just ignore pain. From what we've seen, those Iwa nins are a lot better than us."

"But that doesn't mean you should just give up!" the blue-eyed boy protested.

Akamaru gave an indignant bark, before his partner sputtered out, "Who the hell said anything about giving up? Just that we can't win!"

"Well of course not, if you think like that all the time!" the other boy shot back.

Asuma decided to intervene before things started getting out of hand. "Just because the person you're up against is a lot better, faster, and stronger than you doesn't mean you can't win. You two can't have forgotten everything I've taught you already?"

Understanding dawned in their eyes. "That's right!" Kiba exclaimed. "We're ninja, so anything goes! Get a kunai to your opponent's throat, and the fight's over! As long as it really is your opponent you've got..." he mumbled the last part while shooting a friendly glare at the blonde boy.

Then it was Ino's turn. "Find your opponent's weaknesses and take them by surprise. Even a Kage can be taken out by a single attack if they're not expecting it."

He grinned at his students. "Now, we've got another fight to watch. Be sure to cheer for your friend."

All three responded with a confused "Huh?" He pointed to the board.

Akimichi Chouji vs Sabaku no Temari

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The pleasantly plump boy looked across the room to find his opponent, the tall blonde kunoichi with the big metal-cased fan. He didn't wanna fight her! Sure, she didn't look as scary as any of the last four contestants, but still...

"Chouji." A comforting hand rested on his shoulder. Turning around, he looked up into Kurenai-sensei's red eyes. "You can do it."

Next to him, Shikamaru let out a fond sigh. "It'll be troublesome, especially since you're fighting a girl," Sensei glared at him, "but I'm sure you'll be okay"

"Oi, Chouji!" Wah! When had Naruto come over? Kiba and Ino, too. "Kick her ass! Based on that fan, she probably uses powerful medium-to-long-ranged wind attacks, so try and stay close!"

He smiled at the energetic blonde. "Thanks."

"G-good luck Chouji-kun. Do your b-best." Hinata's self-confidence had taken its usual dip with her crush right there. He made sure to give her his biggest supportive grin, "I will, you too."

A woman's voice shouted up from the floor. "Hey, are you coming down here or not, fatty?"

Fatty? _Fatty_! How dare she! "I'M NOT FAT, I'M BIG-BONED!" the enraged Akimichi roared, leaping down into the arena. He'd show her! "Hayate-san, please hurry up and start the match!"

"Y-yes!" The man erupted into a coughing fit as he leapt out of the way.

The furious boy didn't waste a second. Even in his current state, he still kept his friend's advice in mind and moved to close the distance as quickly as possible, using his favorite of the family jutsu to turn into a massive rolling ball, ready to crush his opponent.

The biggest downside to using the Meat Tank was that it made it really hard to know what was going on, as the only reliable sense available was for chakra. The chakra mass that was the kunoichi shifted out of his way but not quite fast enough to avoid a glancing blow that sent her hurtling off to the side.

Opening the fight by getting in a hit was always good. Chouji deflated and unrolled, the jutsu's purpose done, before leaping straight towards the still-dazed Sand ninja, large fist cocked back,ready to deliver a powerful blow to her face.

But it never connected. Instead, the upper part of his left arm, his left shoulder, and most of the left side of his body exploded in pain as the heavy, black, metal fan slammed into him at high speeds, sending the boy flying into the closest wall.

He recovered slowly. Too slowly, as his opponent was already waiting for him, giant fan wide open and drawn back. "Kamaitachi!"

Pain! Drowning out any other feelings, encompassing all his senses, pure, unadulterated pain. Like hundreds of kunai were slicing and stabbing every part of his body all at the same time. And it didn't let up, either.

After what felt like forever, but was probably no longer than a couple seconds, the fierce winds stopped, and he fell face-up on the hard stone floor, too weak to move, blood dripping from dozens of small, deep cuts.

He'd lost.

All that work, all the training he'd done over the last six months, with Shikamaru, Hinata, Kurenai-sensei, the countless hours spent with his dad learning family jutsu, the time working with his friends on team seven, all of it for nothing, to lose in seconds. Temari was looking down at him, smiling cruelly in victory.

"Oi, Chouji! Get up already!" Naruto's loud voice floated down to him.

"Hey, man, get your fat ass off the floor already!" Oh, he'd get him for that. "Arf!" And his little dog, too.

"Chouji, if you give up here, I'm never paying for another meal for you ever again!" Ino always did love bossing him and Shikamaru around in their Academy days.

And speaking of his lazy friend... "It's troublesome, but they're right. Quitting like that would be even more troublesome." Now the Akimichi was starting to wonder if his friends' voices weren't just hallucinations brought on by the pain.

"Chouji-kun!" Hallucinations, then. Hinata would never raise her voice to a shout like that, especially not for him.

"Chouji! Get up, damnit!" But why was his hallucination of Sakura so... fierce?

Never mind that. Wether they were real or not, they were right. He couldn't end here!

His opponent was right in front of him and had completely dropped her guard. Concentrating as much chakra as he could into his left arm, the pleasantly plump genin swung his fist at her as hard as possible.

_**CLANG!-CRUNCH!**_

He roared in agony as the blow was intercepted by the metal fan. Looking at his hand, it was now bleeding heavily and crushed. But the steel around his opponent's weapon had been bent by the force. That thing wouldn't be opening again until it was fixed, he realized, as the kunoichi was knocked up and away.

Chouji pushed the pain to the side as much as he could as he stumbled to his feet, knowing he needed to finish this now. In his current condition, he might pass out at any moment. The girll was staring in disbelief at her fan.

"HOORAY FOR BIG-BONED PEOPLE!" he roared while rushing at her, his still-useable hand drawn back in preparation for a punch; by the time she returned to her senses, he was already too close to dodge. As his large fist made contact with her face, something slammed hard into the side of his head, and the world went black.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Double -cough- knockout. Neither -cough- contestant will proceed," the sickly jonin announced. Temari's fan and Chouji's fist had both connected at the same time.

"Well, at least no one died this time," Ino commented with a grateful sigh.

"Yeah," the pink-haired girl answered absently, still trying to discern when during the short but intense battle all her former classmates had migrated together, and why Sasuke-kun hadn't come.

Watching these fights, she was worried. When her turn came, how would she fare? Would she be able to show the world the new Haruno Sakura, or would she end up another bloody pulp? The girl knew her ninja skills weren't up to par; sure, she'd worked on that with Ino and the others, but there was only so much that could be done in two days.

The board stopped.

Sabaku no Kankuro vs Yamanaka Ino

She turned to her friend. "Good luck."

"Yeah, go show 'em what you're made of," the boy in the orange monstrosity he called a jacket encouraged.

The others each gave their own supportive comments, before the blonde kunoichi vaulted over the railing to land across from her opponent.

The older boy looked down at her. "You should probably just give up, blondie. Save yourself the pain and humiliation of losing."

"Humiliation?" Ino shot back, "This coming from a guy who looks like a clown in a cat suit?"

"I'll get you for that," the Sand nin growled out.

The proctor looked between the two, seeing their ready expressions. "Fourth match, Sabaku no -cough- Kankuro versus Yamanaka Ino -cough- begin!"

It started right away. The foreign ninja dropped his large bundle to the floor and rushed her. There was something weird about the way he moved, though, like he was gliding instead of running. Ino, however, not only managed to avoid the fast, sudden attack but got in a hit of her own, a palm strike, which her opponent blocked with his arm. Since this was Ino, though, that didn't matter.

From time spent sparring with her friend recently, Sakura knew that said strike would have contained a scorching infusion of fire and water chakra and so was just as surprised as Ino when the boy didn't even react. The kunoichi then used her hand on his arm to push off, placing several meters between them.

She could see the momentary confusion in her friend's blue eyes, before the girl smiled knowingly and took out a kunai. "Hiding won't help you!" she shouted, throwing the weapon at the wrapped object.

A large, black object shot out, leaving nothing but bandages behind. It revealed itself to be... Another Kankuro? The pink-haired girl took a couple seconds to figure out just what was going on, then it hit her when she saw the chakra around the boy's fingers. Puppetry! Of course! It was one of Sunagakure's specialties after all.

The shinobi had a small tear in his black suit on his left shoulder, and Sakura could barely make out a a slight hint of red surrounding it. So he hadn't been quite fast enough, good.

Shedding its disguise, the puppet came again, much faster this time. Ino wasn't ready for the extended reach ad flexibility of the wooden arms and took a direct hit to her stomach, knocking her away. The puppeteer took the opportunity to grab a syringe from his pouch and promptly injected himself with a light green fluid. "You didn't really think you could poison another poison user, did you?"

The girl gave a grin reminiscent of her blonde teammate. "You use poison? Thanks for the info, I'll keep it in mind." She then leapt high into the air, forming handseals in the process

"**Katon: Guokakyu no Jutsu"**

The puppet had launched senbon at her from hidden launchers on its hands but was unable to do anything more as its user had to leap out of the way of the chakra-infused fireball. The chakra in the jutsu had the effect of temporarily disrupting the chakra strings, leaving the apparatus nonfunctional.

As soon as she had finished her jutsu, Ino had taken out a pair of kunai and used them in conjunction with some midair acrobatics to deflect and dodge all the needles. On landing, she was between the Sand shinobi and his puppet.

The boy proved that he hadn't gotten this far with just strong teammates and a large ego, though, when he efficiently twirled to the side of the kunoichi's punch to his chest and leaned back to avoid the swift follow-up spin kick, as his puppet started to move again. What he wasn't able to dodge was the unexpected burst of steam from her foot as it flew by, scalding his right arm. That got a reaction from the crowd, most of them having seen nothing like it before. The pain stalled him (and therefore the puppet) just long enough to give the blonde time to retreat before the chakra-controlled mass of wood was able to come up behind her.

The two spent a few seconds sizing each other up, before Kankuro attacked again, his puppet rushing in close before striking out viciously with wooden limbs and hidden weapons. Ino was only barely able to fend off the assault, the puppet's movements hampered slightly by the burns its user had suffered. Sakura knew that, had she been in the same situation, one of the undoubtedly poison weapons would have hit her by now, effectively ending the fight. Glancing to her left, she could see Naruto looking on worriedly at his teammate.

Jumping back quickly to avoid inhaling a cloud of poison gas, the Yamanaka was now breathing hard, clearly beginning to tire. She grabbed a kunai with an exploding note around the handle. A barrage of flying weapons preceded the puppet bursting through the cloud, but there was enough space for her to dodge them. The puppet's passing through the gas had dissipated it, allowing the Suna shinobi a clear view of the deadly object wrapped around the weapon's hilt.

He jerked the puppet to the side to dodge it, but Ino showed that he wasn't the only one in this fight able to manipulate things with his fingers when the kunai changed course as well. The puppet, now turned into a moving time bomb, headed straight for the girl.

The explosion shook the room. Had she not been so worried about her friend, the green-eyed kunoichi would have wondered just how she got her hands on a high-yield exploding note and when she had grown crazy enough to use it in close proximity to herself. When the smoke cleared, though, all that remained was a two yard wide crater, a broken but mostly intact puppet (chakra-treated wood was apparently much tougher than stone), and shattered pieces of rock. She sighed in relief. Ino had pulled off a last-second kwarimi with some of the rubble from the savage beating during the second match.

Sure enough, she was now by the opposite wall to her previous location, just feet from Kankuro, going through a different sequence of handseals.

"**Suiton: Mizu no Funsha no Jutsu"** (water element: jet of water technique)

The boy was too close to do anything, and the powerful stream of water hit him dead on, sending him flying across the room. He landed not far from his puppet, unconscious.

"Winner -cough- Yamanaka Ino!" But something was wrong. The girl doubled over, suddenly gasping for breath, before she too lost consciousness, her body collapsing. A single senbon was embedded in her right shoulder, dripping poison.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

And the preliminaries finally begin. So there's lots and lots of fighting going on here, and not very much of anything else. It was interesting for me to branch out and write from Chouji and Sakura's viewpoints, though.

The first two fights I've had planned out for a while now, so if they seemed boring, it's because I was bored while writing them. Not a whole lot happens in them either: Gaara crushes the Iwa kunoichi and her teammate returns the favor to Yoroi.

The bit after the second fight, with Kiba being all self-doubt-y and everything else in there was particularly fun to write, as it shows that team seven is still made up of normal people, each with their own problems. Despite working together really well most of the time, they have their rough spots.

As I said above, it was interesting and different writing Chouji. I'd also like to think the matchup was a pretty good choice, because just as in canon where Tenten was the best possible opponent for Temari to wind up with, Chouji is one of the worst for her.

If it seems like I'm focusing on Sakura lot more than usual the last few chapters, it's because something major is going to happen during her preliminary fight, and I want to build her character appropriately before that.

Then we've got Ino up against Kankuro. When deciding matchups, I paired these two together because I figured their abilities would make for a good fight. Personally, I like the way it turned out. And cliffhangers are fun. Also, I'd like to use this time to make a note about Ino's use of steam, before people get around to bringing it up in reviews. It is not a bloodline limit, nor anything to do with a Bijuu (I actually didn't learn that tidbit of information until well after I had written her use of steam in the story). She is not, and never will be using any steam jutsu. What's going on is that she's simply mixing fire and water to make steam, not mixing fire chakra and water chakra to make steam chakra. Hopefully that's clear. From now on, if/when there are any other abilities that I feel could use a further explanation, I will give that explanation in these comments.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching965, Orion


	23. that which drives us

**chapter 23**

**that which drives us**

"INO!"

He had reached her side before she fully hit the ground, his arms now supporting her lifeless weight. Naruto removed the poisoned weapon immediately but didn't trust himself to do anything more, not after what had happened the last time he'd tried to help a seriously injured person. "Where the hell are the med-nins?" he shouted, looking about wildly for the healers whose every second of delay made her condition that much worse.

After what was far too long for his liking, the blonde spotted three white-clad ninjas running towards them. He gently laid his teammate on the floor and moved out of their way. He felt the distinctive use of medical chakra for several seconds, before it died down and the healers began conversing in low voices.

The shinobi's sensitive ears picked up every word, but they might as well have been speaking another language for all he could make sense of them. The general tone of their voices, however, wasn't good. He hated poison.

One of them said something about a stretcher and, seeing a chance to be of use, Naruto swiftly made a kage bunshin who then henged into the needed object. Before the med-nins could protest, he'd already placed his teammate on it.

A large, comforting hand fell on his shoulder. Asuma-sensei. "Go with them, but leave a clone." The young ninja was out the door just moments after the man finished speaking, following the quick but steady procession.

The trip to the infirmary was a blur, the boy too lost in his own worried thoughts to pay any real attention to his surroundings. He hadn't seen when the senbon had struck her, hadn't noticed it until almost the end of the fight, but he had picked up on how quickly his friend had been tiring, much more so than normal. Whatever the substance was, it fortunately wasn't as fast-acting as the poison that had killed Iruka-sensei.

By the time his mind had calmed down enough to process his surroundings, Naruto was already in the infirmary, being told by one of the medics that Ino had stabilized for now.

"For now? What d'you mean for now?" he nearly shouted at the exhausted med-nin.

"It means, Uzumaki-san, that while your teammate's life is no longer in immediate danger, her condition will continue to degrade until an antidote for the poison is found." An antidote, huh? Well, he knew one place, or more specifically, one person who would doubtless have said antidote.

The blonde strode purposefully toward one of the other beds, the one Ino's opponent had been taken to. By the time the med-nins realized what he had in mind, he was already halfway there. He switched to a full-out sprint, and they, having been trained for healing, not combat, were unable to catch him.

He picked the older boy up by the shoulder and slammed him into the nearby wall hard enough to wake him up. His left hand holding him up in the air, his right held a kunai to the boy's throat.

"Wh... what...?" Kankuro muttered confusedly as he awoke. On realizing the situation he was in, his eyes widened momentarily in fear.

Naruto gave the black-clad shinobi his best glare, throwing all the anger and rage he was feeling right now into it. "Gimme the antidote," he growled out.

When the boy didn't respond right away, he increased the pressure on his shoulder, making him wince in pain. The surrounding medics were all looking on in disbelief and shock, not sure what to do. "You poisoned my teammate. Give me the antidote."

"O-okay," the Sand ninja stuttered out. With his left arm, the one free to move, he slowly reached into his tool pouch and withdrew a small syringe, similar to the one he had used on himself during the match. "Here." He started to extend his arm, then, suddenly, too fast to stop him, considering just how close together they were and the fact that both Naruto's hands were occupied, the boy slammed the needle into his neck.

A brief wave of extreme pain shot through him, like his entire body had been lit on fire in an instant. The young genin managed to suppress his reaction to little more than a grimace, keeping both hands in the same exact positions, even as his vision temporarily blurred and the world spun.

Kankuro was now staring at him in frightened disbelief. It was safe to assume he'd just been injected with a massive dose of some sort of poison meant to incapacitate him, but his body had burned the substance away. Naruto tightened his grip on his shoulder, making the boy scream in agony. "I'm not playing games here. She dies, I kill you. And if you try something like that again, I will fucking tear your head off. Got it?"

The older shinobi nodded slowly, before carefully taking out yet another syringe. Blue eyes shifted momentarily to one of the med-nins, inviting her to take the object. The next thirty seconds were filled with silent tension, as everyone waited to see the results.

"The poison's clearing up," another medic announced. Naruto breathed a huge sigh of relief, relaxing as he let his captive fall to the floor. He'd hated threatening the other boy like that; even if he had been the cause of Ino's state, it had been during a fight, after all. It had just been the only way he could see to be sure she didn't die.

More than a few of the med-nins were now glaring at him angrily, and the blonde knew he'd be getting in trouble for this later. He quickly made and dispelled a kage bunshin, updating the one back in the arena with the knowledge of what had just happened.

"So she'll be okay now?" he asked, subdued.

"Yes," responded the same woman who had taken the antidote from Kankuro. "Your teammate should regain consciousness sometime in the next few hours. I'll have to ask you to leave now, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto nodded, before silently walking out of the room. On his way back, the boy pondered on what had just occurred. Now that he had time to think, he realized that there were probably at least a hundred different ways he could have handled that situation, most of them far better than what he'd just done.

For one, he could've put his faith in the medics. Just because he'd been treated horribly the few times he'd been in the hospital didn't mean they would've let her die just to spite him. Form what he understood, something like that would go against everything a doctor stood for. Also, it would've been far better to try asking the Suna nin for the antidote before skipping straight to violence. A direct refusal would've been just plain cruel, and while the boy wasn't the nicest person, he didn't seem particularly sadistic, either.

Looking back, Naruto figured that he had just been too wrapped up in his emotions, mostly the fear of losing his friend, that he just hadn't been able to think clearly. Something like that could cause severe problems in the future, especially since he was continuously growing more and more powerful. It was likely that he'd someday reach a point where lashing out like that could result in something irreversible happening, like someone being permanently injured, or even killed. Not a happy thought.

It was something he'd have to talk to Asuma-sensei about when he got a chance, learning to control his emotions. Right now though, he had the preliminaries to worry about. Walking back into the arena, the blonde noted that he'd arrived right between matches, as none of the other genin were on the floor. As he leapt up to the balcony to rejoin his friends, his clone saw him and dispelled.

Landing next to Kiba, the young ninja burst into laughter when the memories of the "fight" he had missed hit him. "Shikamaru, you lazy bastard," he called out to the Nara, after his mirth subsided, "what the hell was the point of that?"

The shadow user had been matched up against Shino and had forfeited after ten minutes of the two shinobi doing nothing but standing still, looking at each other. "Eh, it would've been too troublesome to try and win," the boy answered.

"You're sure Ino'll be okay, though?" Kiba asked his orange-clad teammate worriedly.

Naruto turned to him. "Yeah, she'll be fine." Blue eyes drifted over to the board, the next pair of fighters having just shown up. "Now calm down and focus; you've got a match to win."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba stared across at his opponent. She was probably the person he least wanted to fight, even including his remaining blonde teammate and the last of the Iwa nins. It wasn't that he was afraid of losing, no; in fact, he and Akamaru felt quite confident of their chances for victory. The boy just didn't like the idea of beating up on someone who wasn't truly willing to stand up for themselves, especially someone he considered a friend.

She couldn't even bring herself to look him in the eye, for crying out loud! The Inuzuka had never been particularly skilled at reading people, especially compared to Ino, with her psychological training, or Naruto, with his intuitive understanding of others, but even he could tell that the girl was about ready to give up, and the match hadn't even started yet.

There was no way in hell he'd let a friend do something like that to themselves. "Hey, Hinata," he called out, "why'd you enter this exam?" The young shinobi was careful to ask the question in a curious manner. Were she to take it as condescending, the effect would be exactly the opposite of what he was going for.

Fortunately, the Hyuuga heiress was not so caught up in her self-doubt as to ignore tone of voice. "I- I wanted to- to try and change myself." The answer came in an even more quiet and hesitating voice than the one she normally used.

"So how the hell is quitting now gonna help that?" he demanded. The girl's quick intake of breath and following silence was all he needed to know his guess had been right. She _had_ been considering withdrawing. "If you really wanna change, you can't give up on yourself halfway through."

Something in the Inuzuka's words had clearly struck a chord in her, as he saw all that worry and fear fade away, to be replaced by the same sort of firm confidence Naruto almost always held. Not too surprising, as he'd done his best to channel his teammate knowing, as did everyone but the knucklehead himself, about Hinata's crush.

He grinned at her. "Ready now?"

"Yes," she answered, sinking into a fighting stance. Kiba and Akamaru immediately did the same.

Hayate-san, who had stayed silent during the whole thing, stepped forward. "Sixth match -cough-Inuzuka Kiba versus -cough- Hyuuga Hinata, begin!"

"**Byakugan!"** As he saw the veins around her eyes bulge, it suddenly occurred to the boy that he'd never had a serious match against just her. Training with team eight had always been either light sparring or full team competitions. The dog ninja had no solid idea what his opponent was capable of.

Oh well. Getting in the first attack was almost always a good way to start things off. So he activated his Shiyaku no Jutsu and charged forward, ramming his shoulder heavily into her stomach.

At least, that was his intention. The pale-eyed girl just sort of twisted out of the way, leaving him wide open and too close to do more than brace himself for the palm strike he could feel coming at his back. But that was what Akamaru was for, leaping quickly at the extended wrist, teeth bared, forcing the kunoichi to either pull back or risk having the tendons in her wrist chewed through.

Kiba planted one hand on the ground, using it as a pivot point to spin around and face the girl. His companion leapt up onto his back. It was time to get serious.

"**Juujin Bunshin" **The now transformed dog leapt off his back at the same time that he briefly leaned up onto his legs, leaving his hands free. Both Inuzukas went through identical handseals.

"**Chakra no Tsume"**

Hinata was standing still a few meters away, apparently just waiting for them. Since she was giving them the opportunity, he told Akamaru to circle around opposite him. Even if her eyes did let her see in all directions, it would be much harder to defend on two sides at the same time.

A quick signal through their mental link, and boy and dog rushed her simultaneously, claws carving deep gouges in the stone floor. Meanwhile she turned so that they were coming toward her sides. As the two males slashed, a hand shot out towards each. He'd been hoping she would jump out of the way, as said hands were now about to be cut to ribbons, an injury that would probably take the med-nins months to heal and not at all his intention, but it was too late to turn back on the attack.

The next moment, Kiba was looking on in disbelief as his opponent had stopped both sets of chakra claws flat against her palms. Damn it, had she secretly been taking lessons from Naruto in how to surprise people or something? Anyway, as she didn't have even a sliver of his teammate's chakra capacity, the Hyuuga heiress must've been keeping the attack at bay with some sort of advanced control.

Realizing this, the two canines deactivated the jutsu and let their real, solid claws dig into her instead. This time Hinata leapt away, her face screwed up in pain, after sending out twin bursts of chakra that caused about as much damage to his hands as she'd just taken, while dispelling Akamaru's henge as well.

The fighters leapt apart to assess the damage. Kiba found that he could barely move his fingers, and even what little movement he could do came with searing pain. Any jutsu requiring handseals were pretty much out. Fortunately, it seemed the blue-haired girl was in a similar situation. The heavily bleeding gashes he and Akamaru had left her would make even holding a kunai impossible.

This turned his partner's presence into a huge advantage, as the white-furred canine was now the only one without a debilitating injury. So the two of them pressed the attack, the boy concentrating on kicks and elbows, even though they weren't part of his usual style. One or both of the Inuzukas would be constantly lunging at her, forcing the girl to keep dodging with no time to counterattack or rest.

Of course, it wasn't going to be that simple. Hinata, that determined glint in her eyes, moved right into Akamaru's path, chakra-sharpened teeth and claws digging into her right shoulder while her left hand delivered a precise strike to the dog's chest. Kiba had to abort his attack and rushed to catch his companion before he hit the floor, the sudden silence through their mental link terrifying him.

Quickly checking his partner, he was relieved to learn that he was still breathing, just unconscious, and something had happened to his chakra flow. The latter had been what had disrupted their link. The young genin looked up at his opponent, who was again standing ready for an attack, though her right arm was now a bit unsteady, and she was breathing heavily, exhausted.

Then he'd end things right now, before she had time to recover or his own exhaustion caught up to him. If the kunoichi was going to ignore the pain in her hands and the extra damage using them now would cause, he'd just have to do the same. Reaching into the pouch on his left side, he took out a soldier pill and popped it in his mouth. The chakra boost it provided should give him just enough for what he had in mind. He started forming handseals.

Hinata ran forward to stop him, but the boy simply leapt away, which started a brief chase around the arena floor. Luckily, the blood coating her hands would prevent any attempts at accurately throwing anything, and he had her beat in pure speed. When the jutsu was ready, Kiba stopped and launched himself at her, giving her no time to react.

"**Raiton: Seidenki Heki"** (lightning element: static burst)

The moment they crashed into each other, a large amount of electricity transferred from the boy to the girl, blasting her yards away, where she crashed headfirst into the wall. Having used up most of his remaining chakra, the dog boy fell sloppily to the floor, panting but happy as the examiner announced that she was unconscious and he'd won. Asuma-sensei came and helped him back up to the balcony as the medics rushed in. Hana-oneesan was with them, making a beeline for Akamaru to be sure the pup was okay.

"Good job, Kiba," the bearded jonin complimented him as a med-nin patched up the internal damage his hands had taken.

He was so tired he could barely smell the cigarettes. "Thanks."

The Inuzuka must've blacked out for a moment then, because the next thing he knew, he was sitting sprawled out on the floor, his back against the wall. A pair of hands had his shoulders in a strong, but not uncomfortable, grip, and an energizing warmth was flooding his body. Chakra, he realized.

"You don't have to do that," he said to the blonde boy currently refilling his chakra reserves.

Naruto pouted. "But I don't want you to miss the rest of the matches, and Akamaru wanted you up, too." He gestured down to the dog, who immediately leapt at Kiba's face and welcomed him back to the waking world with his tongue.

"I missed you too, boy." Before he could say anything more, though, part of his brain pointed out that the chakra his teammate was giving him was getting to be a bit _too_ much. "I'm good," he said, and his friend cut the connection to keep any kind of overload from occurring. When the blonde had first started doing this for them during training sessions, that had been an occasional problem.

A confused look briefly flashed across the other boy's face. "What happened?"

"Oh, the clone I'd sent to give Hinata a chakra boost just dispelled. I don't think it worked, though, cause she ended up fainting again. Shikamaru and Chouji said it was okay and thanked me, but..." Kiba was once more amazed by his friend's complete naivete when it came to the Hyuuga heiress's crush. "You guys were great out there. Best match all day."

"Yeah, well, in pretty much all the others, people were actually trying to kill each other, and then there was Shikamaru and Shino." The fight between the two of them had been the most boring thing he'd ever experienced, or would have been were he not too busy worrying about Ino. "Who's up next?"

"Next match is between Fuzzy-Brows and his teammate Neji" Naruto told him.

"Huh, that should be interesting," the Inuzuka commented as he stood up, Akamaru perching on top of his head.

"Yeah, from what Lee's told me, they're something like rivals, though it seems a little one-way if you ask me." The orange-clad boy was standing next to him as they looked down at the two shinobi preparing for combat.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

Finally, this chapter is complete. Shorter than I was hoping for, but it's done. I had a major case of writer's block that popped up when I was about halfway through, which is why it took so long. I hope you all liked it.

Personally, I think this is the worst-written chapter so far, though I might just be letting my disappointment in how long it took affect my judgment. I'm not really fully satisfied with either scene, the first because I don't feel I did a good job expressing Naruto's emotions.

As for the fight scene, I just don't see it as a good depiction of how Kiba fights, but it's the only way I can write a fight, so it'll have to make do. He just isn't the type to think that much in the middle of a battle.

Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will turn out better. There'll definitely be some interesting stuff happening in it at any rate.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching965, Orion, ABitterPill


	24. teammates

**chapter 24**

**teammates**

Gai looked on intently as his students prepared for combat. His remaining genin was clearly nervous for Lee, having seen the two boys clash countless times in the past but never this seriously. The man placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Watch closely, Tenten, and you will see the true power of hard work."

He sighed as he saw the usual arrogant look on Neji's face. "You really want to do this again, Lee? Even when fate has already decreed that you will lose?" he asked the other boy tiredly, already believing he had won. It was an attitude the jonin had been trying to rid him of since day one, but nothing had worked. Hopefully, the coming match would open his eyes to the power of youth.

The taijutsu master saw his prized pupil grin. "This time will be different, Neji-kun. This time, I will prove that hard work can beat genius." The boy sent him a questioning look. "Gai-sensei! May I!" He gestured to his ankles.

"Yosh! Certainly, Lee! Take them off!" Gai shouted back. Nodding, the young genin bent down and unhooked his weights, holding them out to either before letting them drop to the floor. The expressions of many of the observers shifted to disbelief when the metal objects sunk into the stone, cracks forming around the impact points.

The boy's opponent, however, had seen the sight several times over the past year during training and missions and was unimpressed. "Even with your weights off, you still can't beat me. We both know this, so why bother trying?"

Lee frowned. "I try, Neji-kun, because it is the only way I will ever succeed! Prepare yourself!" He shifted into a perfect gouken opening attack stance for a defensive foe.

Immediately following this burning declaration, a shout came forth from the upper level "Go Fuzzy-Brows! Kick that jerk's ass!" Ah, Naruto-kun. Truly, the boy had been a most youthful pupil these past months and had helped his Lee to improve greatly.

The Hyuuga boy sighed and moved into his usual jyuuken stance. "So be it, then. Byakugan!"

Hayate looked between the two boys. "All right, then. Fourth -cough- match, begin!"

Lee immediately took the offensive, rushing in with every bit of speed he had earned over the past year of youthful training, his right leg lashing out in a spin-kick at his opponent's torso. The blow never connected, though, as Neji was quick enough to catch his ankle with his left hand, while leaning with the blow to effectively negate its force. At the same time, his right hand shot out, the jyuuken strike targeting Lee's left lung.

The taijutsu specialist deflected the attack with a palm strike to the long-haired boy's forearm, simultaneously aiming his free right fist for the Hyuuga's exposed right side. It was a good combination; Neji now had to either back off or try fighting with bruised ribs, as the pressure still being applied by Lee's right leg would upset any attempts to adjust his footing and dodge.

As predicted, the white-eyed boy leapt away, and Lee dashed to his landing point, arriving there ahead of the airborne genin. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite fast enough to take full advantage of the situation, and in his haste, the Dynamic Youth Kick he tried was off, allowing Neji to twist perfectly with the impact.

Now, suddenly, Gai's favorite student was the one in a bad position, as he had to throw himself backward awkwardly to keep from taking a direct hit on his leg. Even still, the other boy's hand thrust grazed the limb, causing slight damage to the muscles on his inner thigh.

Several months ago, that single glancing blow would have been enough to effectively guarantee Neji's victory. However, daily training with Naruto had conditioned him to ignore pain and keep fighting at full strength even with minor injuries, having been inspired by seeing the blonde do the same. Any strike that didn't close a tenketsu or damage a vital organ would not have much of a lasting effect.

Even while cheering his pupil on ("Yosh! Shower your teammate with youthful passion!") as the boy took the offensive again, jumping in with a Konoha Senpuu, the jonin knew Lee wouldn't be able to win in this state. His opponent was fast and skilled enough to avoid taking any meaningful damage, and the minor blows would keep adding up. The young genin knew it too, of course, and was using this match to test himself, see how far he could go against his rival before opening the Gates.

"Eh, your kids are pretty good, Gai."

He turned to face the grey-haired man, the fight slow and simple enough that he could follow it by sound and knowledge of the combatants. "Indeed they are, my eternal rival! For our next competition, let us see which of us gets more students into the finals!"

His response was a lazy wave. "Sure, whatever."

"DAMN YOU AND YOUR INFURIATINGLY HIP ATTITUDE, KAKASHI!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Looking down at the match, Shikamaru sighed, "Troublesome." He would've liked to see Lee win, because the Hyuuga's attitude had always been kinda irritating. He could understand it sure, what with everything Hinata had told him and Chouji about her clan, but it still rubbed him the wrong way. Plus Lee, despite his eccentricities, seemed like a bright, enthusiastic person, the kind who made you want to cheer for him, if only you could do so without expending any unnecessary effort.

From what the genius Nara could tell though, it just wasn't going to go like that. For the most part, the details of the movements were a bit too fast for his eyes to catch, and he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against either boy by himself unless he caught them off guard, but even a regular person would notice that the green-clad genin was slowly losing.

"Whaddaya mean?" The question came from his right, but glancing over that way took too much effort. Besides, he recognized the voice. Naruto was probably the most interesting and complicated person he'd ever met, and if it weren't so troublesome, he could probably spend weeks thinking about the blonde without figuring out anything besides the basic facts the boy showed openly to the world. In fact, the shadow user had pondered over his enigmatic friend many times in the past, ever since he'd transferred into Iruka-sensei's class having already taken and failed the graduation test twice, despite being eight like the rest of them.

He'd always tried not to peer too deeply into the boy's life, both out of a respect for his privacy and because at least some of the things he was hiding were clearly important enough to the village that knowing them would put him in lots of troublesome situations. Still, it was pretty much impossible to ignore the changes he'd been going through over the past six months, the way he'd gone from an energetic, cheerful, annoying kid to an energetic, cheerful, sometimes-annoying young ninja.

But either way, the ramen-obsessed genin was generally a nice guy, so his question deserved an answer. Shikamaru briefly explained his thoughts on the match, going into just enough detail to get his point across; who knew how the other boy would react to learning that one of Konoha's clans practiced what amounted to slavery towards the vast majority of its own members.

Naurto's response was accompanied by one of his many smiles, the I-know-something-you-don't-know-but-I'm-not-telling one. "Oh, don't worry. There's no way Fuzzy-brows'll lose this match."

The shadow user was bored though, so he continued the conversation anyway. "Why not?" he asked, not really expecting to learn anything from whatever response the blonde would give.

"Cause Lee won't let himself lose. Didn't you hear him before? Winning means proving the value of his nindo." And, as usual, the other boy defied expectations, freely giving out information on a close friend while keeping the mundane details a secret. Apparently he wanted whatever would happen to be a surprise.

Of course, that brought up a small quandary: if unexpected actions came to be expected, could they still be considered unexpected? More like unpredictable, really. Unpredictable was definitely a word that applied to the blonde.

Taking a quick glance around the room, Shikamaru noted that there were fewer people present than when theses matches had begun. Two dead and four sent to the hospital already, and there would doubtless be more; his decision to drop out had definitely been a good one. The ruthlessness of the Iwa nins and that Sabaku no Gaara would've made continuing on... much more troublesome... than it was worth.

His attention returning to the fight, the Nara's brain went to work speculating on just what the green-clad genin could possibly pull to turn the tables. Being on a team with a Hyuuga had provided him with detailed information on the workings of their clan style. After taking this many strikes, the boy's chakra flow must've been a mess, and that's assuming none of the attacks had hit tenketsu. In such a state, any attempts at ninjutsu or genjutsu would fail before they even started, and taijutsu clearly wasn't working-

"LEE! IT IS TIME TO SHOW YOUR ETERNAL RIVAL THE TRUE POWER OF YOUR YOUTHFUL SPIRIT!" The absurd man's shout jarred his thought process for the thirty-seventh time that day. Reading between the nonsense, however, it seemed he would finally get his answer.

Sure enough, the young shinobi leapt back to put some space between himself and his opponent, before standing in an unusual pose, seemingly concentrating. "Hai, Gai-sensei. Neji, this is the end! **Seimon: KAI!" **As he spoke those last two words, chakra exploded out of him so forcefully it tore up the floor around where he was standing, all his veins bulged visibly, and his skin turned a deep shade of red. So much power was emanating from him that Shikamaru could easily feel it, despite being a good distance away. He wanted to turn to Hinata and ask if she had any idea what the hell was going on, but his body was in too much shock to do anything.

"Huh, never seen him go right to the third one like that," Naruto mused aloud, perfectly at ease, his only reaction to the sudden change a small, pride-filled smile at his friend. The comment reminded the shadow user of his presence and broke his brief paralysis. Right, no need to ask Hinata when there's someone right there who already knew about it.

"What do you mean?" he asked, repeating the blonde's question from a couple minutes ago back to him.

"Oh," the boy replied casually, "the eight inner gates are this series of limiters the body has in place to keep it from over-working itself and burning out. You can override them, but during training I've only ever seen him do one at a time." While he was explaining, Lee quite literally exploded into action, the sheer force of his motion further destroying the stone floor.

The Hyuuga, like most of the spectators, was too stunned to do anything, but even if he'd been ready, there was nothing he could've done. The other boy was little more than a streak of green, the power and speed behind him making resistance useless as he was sent flying by some sort of strike to the stomach.

Then the Nara's mind finally registered the last part of what his friend had said. "Wait, you're telling me you trained against that?" he asked in disbelief. His brain was still trying to cope with the 180 degree turn the situation had just pulled.

"Occasionally. Fuzzy-brows needed to get used to handling that level of power, and I needed the experience of not being able to do anything as I'm beat to a bloody pulp." While they talked, Neji was being bounced wildly all around the room, with no chance to recuperate as devastating blows connected all over his body. After about ten more seconds, the rapid assault started to slow dramatically, until Lee's voice was heard again, seeming to come from multiple directions.

"**Shomon: KAI!"** Immediately after, the attacks shot up to more than double their previous ferocity. No doubt the Hyuuga shinobi had at the very least multiple broken bones.

Suddenly, a frightening thought occurred to Shikamaru. He turned, a questioning look directed straight into the other boy's blue eyes. "Wait, you can't use these gate things too, can you?" The blonde already had a ridiculous amount of power at his disposal as it was. Were he able to amplify it in this way...

He'd read accounts before of ninjas who grew too powerful, too quickly. Without exception, they'd all gone insane and destroyed themselves and everything around them. The idea of something like that happening to a guy like Naruto was beyond troublesome.

"Nah." He gave a sigh, clearly disappointed with the fact. "I would've liked to learn, but there's some... extenuating circumstances... that make it not doable. So no need to worry about me turning into some kind of mad pseudo-god."

The Nara felt his jaw drop open in surprise and quickly put it back in place. The blonde had read him perfectly, despite his effort to keep the worry hidden. And not only that, but, "'Extenuating circumstances?' Where'd you learn a phrase like that?" He noticed the boy tensing slightly at first, before relaxing on hearing the second part of the question. So whatever those circumstances were, he'd been afraid he was going to ask about them. Yet another interesting fact to file away about him.

Naruto frowned at the friendly insult but answered anyway. "I remembered it from a book I read. I've got a partially-watchamacallit-memory. Photogenic."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "You mean photographic. Though eidetic is a much more appropriate word. Photographic implies that only the visual aspects of the experiences are preserved, which really wouldn't be a very good memory at all." It was questionable whether the boy's little comedic slip-ups like that were intentional, to lighten the mood, or subconsciously decided, a remnant from his days of desperately craving for attention.

Fortunately, the match was drawing to a close, giving the genius genin something to think about besides his confusing friend. With Lee weak and barely conscious, but Neji clearly out, the proctor didn't even bother checking before calling it in the green-clad boy's favor, with a minimal amount of coughing.

"Gai-sensei... I did it..." the boy called out with all the strength he could muster.

"YOSH! MOST YOUTHFULLY EXCELLENT WORK, LEE!" the eccentric jonin announced to the whole of Konoha, vaulting over the railing as a constant stream of tears began to flow from his eyes.

The man's words seemed to energize his student a bit, as the boy was now struggling to his feet. "Gai-sensei."

"LEE!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Next to him, he felt Naruto tense up for some reason.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"SHIELD YOUR EYES!"

This final shout came from right beside him. The Nara ignored his friend's bellow, though he was strongly in the minority.

Too troublesome.

...

...

...

GAH! Sunset... waves... What the hell was happening? He immediately initiated the most advanced genjutsu disruption technique Kurenai-sensei had taught them, fruitlessly.

But this couldn't possibly be real. It made no sense! The sun! And the beach! They were INDOORS!

"_The integral of cosine x equals sine x plus C. The integral of cosine x equals sine x plus C._" he repeated mentally, trying to force logic back into the world through mathematics. It didn't work.

The... whatever it was... was finally broken when the med-nins came in to cart away the two injured genin (Lee once again on the verge of passing out), leaving Shikamaru wondering just what had occurred. A preliminary theory was that the two taijutsu users were somehow able to briefly generate some kind of anti-logic field strong enough to alter the world around them. Such an ability, if useable in combat, would be invaluable. Whatever the case, he made a mental note to always heed any warnings Naruto might give in the future, as the alternative was far too troublesome.

As the Nara had been speculating, the board had been spinning through the remaining contestant names. He heard a quiet "Shit," from the boy next to him and glanced at who it had picked.

"Troublesome," he muttered.

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"Yamanaka-san." She ignored the med-nin, too focused on her current task to try and respond.

"Yamanaka-san, I must insist you lie back down. You are still recovering from the poison, and-" But Ino had finally managed to struggle to her feet. Irritable due to the burning pain, she cut the woman off mid-sentence.

"You already said it won't kill me or cause any permanent damage, right?" she snapped. The healer gave a hesitant nod. "Then I'm gonna go back to my team and watch the rest of the matches. Now you can either get me some crutches or get out of my way."

Her glare must have been pretty intimidating, because the medic scampered off without a word, returning seconds later with the requested item, which she immediately took. Good, now she only felt like she was being stabbed by kunai all over, as opposed to the lower half of her body being burned and electrocuted.

The blonde kunoichi gave a quick glance of thanks as she limped to the door and another when the med-nin opened it for her. Hopefully there wouldn't be any steps until she got back to the arena. Now to just keep her mind occupied, think about anything and everything to distract from the near-unbearable pain.

Maybe she should've asked for some painkillers, those would be really nice right now; it wasn't too late to go back. No, she could do this. Naruto had been through way worse without so much as a whimper, so she could definitely get herself to do this. Besides, the drugs would mess with her senses, making the whole point of going to watch the matches moot.

Naruto, now there was a topic the Yamanaka could think about for weeks. Knowing everything she did about him, while it solved some of the mysteries, also made him that much deeper and more complex. And admirable. The way he had grown up so kind, caring, and selfless despite the limited amount of affection he'd received during his formative years. The way he was almost always so happy and open, but able to instantly change to fit the situation. The way he looked when training shirtless, sweat glistening off of...

No! Plenty of time for being a hormone-driven teenager _later_. New topic. Something less confusing, like Sakura. Sakura, Forehead girl, her friend and rival. But what were they rivals in now, anyway? Definitely not love. And not as kunoichi, at least not right now. The pink-haired girl had a lot of wasted time to make up for before she could really challenge her in that area again.

So maybe they were just friends right now. That had a nice feel, someone who's just a friend. Not a friend and rival, or a friend and teammate, or a former friend, or a friend of the family. A friend, plain and simple. A good friend, too; no, her best friend, the kind every girl was supposed to have, to talk with about anything and everything, to be there for each other. Yeah, that's what Sakura was.

She hoped she hadn't missed too much. The medic said she'd been out less than an hour, but ninja battles could be over in seconds. Or they could last... well... a really long time. So really it was uo to luck. Lots of things were up to luck, and chance. Especially for ninjas. Too much, really.

But not this. What she was doing now was entirely her choice, and her success depended solely on the strength of her determination. Maybe that's why she was doing it, not so much to watch the rest of the preliminaries, but to prove that she could. Granted, this was a pretty damn extreme and painful way to make a point, especially to herself. Maybe Naruto's insanity was contagious.

Again, time for a new topic. Oh wait, no, she was there. The kunoichi noticed as she stumbled through the entryway that everyone was staring at her, frozen in silence. She immediately spotted Sakura's distinctive pink hair near the middle of the room, green eyes wide in a mix of disbelief and almost awe. Her teammates...

Were right beside her, Naruto on the left and Kiba on the right. The Inuzuka was a little scruffed up. Damn it, she'd missed his fight. "You really think you should be walking?" Akamaru looked worried about her as well, from his spot in the boy's jacket.

"Like I would've stayed in that boring hospital room when you three are risking your lives in here," she shot at him in response. Now that she had to focus on the world around her again, the pain reasserted itself full force. Gritting her teeth, Ino slowly made her way to the stairs.

Her fellow blonde seemed to be having an internal battle, his concern for her well-being fighting against his understanding of what this meant to her, his uncanny ability to read others, especially those close to him, clearly telling him how important it was that she do this herself.

With a pained gasp she heaved herself up onto the first step.

"At least let us help you up the stairs." Apparently the former of the two warring feelings had won out, as the short boy was suddenly at her side, arms extended, silently asking permission to carry her. No way! She didn't need his help! She could do this by hersel-

"Besides," he gave a small grin, "you're holding up the next match." Oh, right. Ino would've blushed in embarrassment if she weren't hurting so much. As it was, it took extra effort she just didn't have to spend.

It was Sakura, right? She remembered noticing Forehead girl on the floor. But who was she up against? Light blue eyes turned to look.

Oh hell. Why him? The girl put up no resistance as her teammate took her in his arms and brought her to the upper level. Of all people, why did Sakura have to get matched up against Sasuke?

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When she'd seen the board reading "Haruno Sakura," she had instantly felt both excitement and apprehension welling up within her. When her brain had registered her crush's name a fraction of a second later, the excitement had vanished and the apprehension doubled.

She couldn't fight Sasuke-kun! The entire idea was ludicrous! For once, the voice in the back of her head didn't have anything supportive to say. Even if she were willing, the black-eyed boy was far beyond her level. She wouldn't even be an adequate challenge to him, despite how much she'd improved over just the past few days. The bored frown on his face expressed that far better than any words ever could. The kunoichi had been on the verge of forfeiting.

Then Ino had dragged herself in. Her blonde friend was obviously in intense pain, by the way she was moving, but she had come all the way here anyway. All the way from the infirmary, a distance over a hundred meters even by the shortest route, her mind supplied, in that condition!

"**No way am I gonna lose to her!"** Inner Sakura exploded back into the forefront of her mind, filling her with determination. So what if she couldn't win? Not even trying would be ridiculously pathetic. Besides, it wasn't like Sasuke-kun would seriously hurt her; she didn't have the same amount of faith in some of the other remaining contestants, especially after seeing what the Iwa nins were capable of. She moved to a ready stance.

Sasuke-kun raised an eyebrow. "You don't seriously want to do this, do you? There's no point," he scoffed, giving voice to her earlier thoughts. And just like that, her confidence disappeared, sucked away into his deep black eyes. What _was _the point? She knew her limits and abilities. There was no chance of victory. Fighting would just make Sasuke-kun mad at her-

"Go for it, Forehead! Show everyone what you're made of!" She looked up at the blonde kunoichi, now grinning down at her, through whatever pain she must be feeling. Her teammates, Kiba and that baka Naruto, were right there next to her, and Sakura could practically feel the camaraderie between them.

If only team 10 could have that kind of relationship. But Shino was Shino, and she was...well... seen as useless. Useless, weak, Sakura could see it reflected in the eyes of most of the people watching. Well not anymore. Ino was right; this was her chance.

The kunoichi went back to a combat stance, not even having noticed when she'd gotten out of it. **"Let's do this thing, damnit!" **Now, her inner voice and her friends cheering her on, Sakura was ready.

Sasuke-kun looked amused, if the way the corners of his mouth turned up slightly was any indication. "Fine, if you want to lose so badly, let's get this over with."

"**Look at him, standing there all calm, dismissing us like we're nothing!"**

"_But we _are_ nothing compared to him,"_ she reminded her inner self. _"All we've got are basic taijutsu, shuriken and kunai, and the three jutsus from the Academy. Sasuke-kun has all that, but better, larger chakra capacity and reserves, and all his katon jutsu, not to mention the Sharingan."_

"**Yeah, but he doesn't know we've improved! And don't go forgetting our intelligence and perfect chakra control, and what we can do with them!"** She smiled. Inner Sakura was right; if she could just find a way to make an opening, get in close, and drive her fist into his gut, that'd wipe the smirk off his face for sure!

Seeing that she was ready, the sick examiner announced the start of the fight. "Eighth match: Haruno -cough- Sakura versus Uchiha Sasuke -cough- begin!"

Sakura immediately grabbed and threw a kunai at the boy, releasing a small burst of chakra from her hand along with the weapon to enhance its speed. Sasuke-kun, not expecting it to be flying that fast and still standing relaxed, had to throw himself flat backwards to keep from getting hit.

Good. That short time out of his sight was enough for her to make a trio of bunshin right in front of her position. She had no illusions that the clones would confuse the genius Uchiha for more than an instant, but they had a major advantage in that they blocked her from view, while remaining translucent from her perspective as she had been the one to create them.

If the pink-haired kunoichi wanted to put up a fight, she'd have to use everything at her disposal, even the exploding tag she was currently digging into her pouch for. If she could wrap it around a kunai hilt without her teammate knowing, that could work to catch him completely off guard.

Just as she had both the tag and a kunai, Sasuke-kun got tired of waiting and jumped high into the air, over her. She had her bunshin jump at the same angle to keep her hidden as she wrapped the tag, but then he threw a shuriken when right above her, straight through the clones, and she couldn't move fast enough to dodge it completely. The weapon sliced her left shoulder (at least it wasn't her dominant arm), causing her concentration on the jutsu to waver, before breaking.

Fortunately, that brief bit of extra time plus the small amount of smoke as it dispelled was just enough to finish her work with the tag and stow the kunai off to the side of her weapons pouch for easy retrieval and use later.

Almost too late, having been busy with her bunshin jutsu, the sharp pain in her arm, and her activities with the kunai, Sakura spun about to face her opponent. He was only a meter away, and his left leg was already moving toward her head.

Using the momentum of her spin to add to the force, she threw her fist into the limb's path, gathering up as much chakra as she could in the fraction of a second remaining. Flesh hit flesh, and a jolt of pain shot up her unprepared arm. Both genin were thrown back by the collision, and the kunoichi breathed a sigh of relief. Had she been an instant slower, she'd be unconscious, or at least too disoriented to fight.

Sasuke-kun reached down to rub at his shin where she'd struck. "Sakura, you're annoying."

Annoying? Here she was, trying her very hardest to prove herself to him and to everyone else, and he called her _annoying_?

"**Damn it! That jerk, he's still not taking us seriously! Kick his ass!"** Normally, she would've immediately protested Inner Sakura's insult towards the love of her life, but Sakura was feeling just as angry. The past few months had slowly been showing her another side of the teen, and she suddenly realized that Ino was, once again, right.

He _was_ a bastard.

Well forget proving herself to her arrogant ex-crush! She was going to pound him into dust! **"Yeah, that's more like it!"**

"Just go for it, Forehead!"

"Do your best!"

"Go get him, Sakura!"

She grinned, letting the encouragement flood into her, and began working up a new plan.

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This was pathetic. Sasuke glared at the examiner again; why hadn't the man called this fight already? Sakura hadn't even come close to hitting him yet, and the sad excuse for a kunoichi was already starting to tire.

He didn't even need his Sharingan for this! That the proctors had even allowed this bit of nonsense to take place was insulting. He needed strong opponents to test his own strength, not a useless waste of space! There were plenty of people who would have given him a challenge: Sabaku no Gaara, that Lee boy, or one of those Stone ninja.

The Uchiha genius casually leaned out of the way of another clumsy punch, wondering not for the first time what he was doing. He was supposed to be getting stronger, damnit! This entire exam had been a waste of time; even the team he'd beaten up in the forest had been pathetic.

A memory of a fake Kusa genin with an impossibly long tongue came to his mind. Orochimaru. He hadn't stood a chance against the man, just like Itachi that night. And the Sannin, he knew something. He'd mentioned that man, knew his brother somehow.

Sasuke needed to know more, he needed power. He shot a quick glare at that dumbass Naruto while grabbing his teammate's kick and tossing her aside. That stupid dunce had interfered in his fight!

Another flash of memory, this time of the infuriating blonde. The feeling that had come from him after Orochimaru had left, the overwhelming power and hate... Was that the "present" he had mentioned? That power? With something like that, he would finally be able to get his revenge on Itachi. And it had gone to a useless nuisance like Naruto! Why? Why was the world always so unfair to him?

The pink-haired kunoichi threw another kunai at him, but her aim was so horrendous that e didn't even have to move. It landed nearly a half foot to the left and behind him. Again patheti-

BOOM!

The unexpected explosion hurled him forward, straight at the incoming girl.

That was it. This farce ended now! Activating his clan's gift to him, Sasuke's world moved into slow-motion, Sakura's chakra now as visible to him as the rest of her. Interesting, the way she had it gathered in her fist like that. Was that why her blows had been so much stronger than they should have been? No matter; it was easy enough to deal with.

He reached out his right hand and grabbed her by the wrist, spinning her around before snatching up her long hair with his left. Then, placing his right foot on her back, he applied some pressure, eliciting a shriek of pain as the tension in the pink strands tore at her scalp. His eyes shifted back to their usual jet black. Hopefully no one had noticed that he'd resorted to using his bloodline for a moment. That would be an embarrassment.

"Yield," he demanded.

She stayed silent.

"I said yield!" Sasuke increased the pressure.

Then, suddenly, Sakura used a kunai in her free hand to cut her hair. With the unexpected disappearance of the resistance, the force from his leg sent him tumbling onto his back. The grip he had on her wrist pulled the girl after him, the kunai still in her other hand.

The disorientation of his head striking the floor was instantly cut through by blinding pain from the upper half of his face, his right hand shooting up on reflex, only to feel a warm wetness. The hair still clutched into said hand went everywhere, and the pain intensified tenfold causing Sasuke to scream out.

He couldn't see.

He COULDN'T SEE!

She'd taken away his EYES! HIS SHARINGAN!

HIS REVENGE! THAT BITCH HAD BLINDED HIM AND TAKEN HIS REVENGE AWAY!

She would PAY!

With a roar, the last Uchiha threw himself at where he knew she lay and had the satisfaction of feeling his fist slam into her face. Again. And again.

It wasn't enough. She prided herself on her looks? Well how would she like HAVING HER NOSE CUT OFF?

Picking her up by the shoulders, Sasuke hurled the girl into the nearest wall. Then he dashed at her, savoring the expression on her traitorous face as he plunged his knee into her stomach. If only it could be _him_, there against the wall, blood dribbling from his mouth!

But it NEVER WOULD! His EYES were GONE! His RIGHT as an UCHIHA! She would know PAIN for this!

Under his incessant pounding, he could hear the sound as her bones snapped, trapped between chakra-enhanced blows and unyielding stone, see the blood and tears dribbling down he face.

Wait, tears? ...See...?

The boy stepped back and slowly waved his right hand back and forth in front of his eyes. Yes. He could see. They were still there, perfectly intact, two spinning Sharingans reflected in the girl's blood. A kunai gash went right across his eyeline, the blade no doubt having missed them by millimeters.

Laughter reached his ears, and it took Sasuke a second to realize that the source of the sound was himself.

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Shino was angry. This was a highly unusual state for him to find himself in, and the emotion, despite his neither expressing it nor allowing it to affect his thought process, was nonetheless intense enough to agitate his hive. The anger he felt was directed solely towards his male teammate.

The boy's illogical actions had been extremely harmful to Sakura-san, most likely emotionally as well as physically. Most probably, the weak bond that had developed amongst the three of them had been permanently shattered. Team ten would no longer be able to function as a single unit, assuming the pink-haired kunoichi was even able to recover enough to maintain her current ninja status.

From the discussions between the med-nins his insects reported hearing as she was wheeled out, this was exceptionally unlikely to occur.

It was easy enough to comprehend the female's actions. The Aburame always made sure to keep a single kikaichu on each of his teammates to better monitor them, and through Sakura-san's, he knew about the time she had been spending with team 7 the past three days. One thing he had learned in his observation of Naruto-san was his tendency to unconsciously push those around him to better themselves and surpass their limits in nearly all aspects of their lives.

But the actions of Sasuke-san were impossible to make sense of. He had savagely beaten his opponent, far beyond the necessary extent to render her unconscious, screaming about being blind while his eyes were perfectly intact. It was not his actions during the match, however, that were the cause of Shino's anger.

Once Gekko-san had announced the boy victorious (a logical choice as, despite the lack of logic in his actions, he had fulfilled the required conditions for winning), the medics had immediately rushed into the combat area and began emergency care for the severely injured kunoichi. Immediately afterwards, Kakashi-sensei had walked over to Sasuke-san and demanded at a high volume to know why he had felt it necessary to use that level of force against a comrade.

The last Uchiha had answered in his usual manner: concise, egocentric, and not at all satisfying. "I felt like it. Besides, it's just Sakura."

That was what had brought on the emotion he was currently experiencing. Shino, however, was not the only one. The one-eyed jonin quivered with rage before walking back to the upper level in silence, clearly believing he would cause harm to his own student were he to stay near the boy any longer. Several of his former classmates were directing looks of shock and distaste at Sasuke-san. Naruto-san was restraining Kiba-san and the injured Ino-san from attempting to cause physical harm, while the look in his eyes made it clear that he wished to do the exact same and only the desire to keep his teammates from harming themselves was holding him back.

Without another word, Sasuke-san walked out of the room. It appeared the boy was not as inept at reading a situation as he often seemed, though his ego likely made him justify his current actions by convincing him that the remaining fights would not be worth watching.

After a brief time spent pondering, the Aburame came to the decision to leave as well. As Sakura-san's teammate, it was logical that he should be with her in her perilous state. While she had often shunned him when the Uchiha was nearby, the kunoichi had usually appreciated his presence to some extent and would express that appreciation in some form when the other boy was not present. She was the only person outside of his clan to do so.

It was his hope that this would not remain true in the future. It was simple to conclude that team 10 would disband once the Chunin Exams had concluded, and the chances that he would have an increased amount of interactions with his other contemporaries as a result were high. Study had proven most of them to be friendly and accepting of others.

As Shino walked down the hallways at a brisk pace, following the trail of the insect he had placed on Sakura, he hoped he would be able to return in time to watch at least part of Naruto-san's match. While he had left kikaichu behind to observe the proceedings for him, data collected first-hand was always preferable.

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comments:

This was a chapter I had been anticipating planning for for a long time. Unsurprisingly, it did not turn out at all the way I had envisioned it. While it didn't give me the same amount of trouble writing as the last chapter, there were still several parts that were quite "troublesome."

Shino's scene at the end in particular. It was my first real attempt to write him, so I had to juggle his feelings and logical mindset with progressing the plot and (hopefully) keeping things interesting.

Another hard, albeit interesting to write bit was Sasuke's snapping. Hopefully I gave enough of a view into his mental state that it doesn't feel out-of-character.

I tried to divide this chapter into two distinct parts, each with a different feel, and inserted Ino's scene to act as a transition between them. The Lee/Neji fight is fairly light, with the required comedy from the Green Beasts, while with Sasuke/Sakura I was attempting to give more of a view into the genin of team ten. Even though they're not part of Naruto's team in this story, I'm not willing to simply let anyone sit by the side until plot requires something from them.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and will find the next one just as enjoyable if not more so (hint: it's finally Naruto's turn).

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beta readers: ching965, Orion, ABitterPill


	25. consequences of actions

**chapter 25**

**consequences of actions**

Naruto was way past simply being angry. No, anger would have been wanting to shout at the teme, maybe beat him up a little bit. What he was feeling right now was more like wanting to pound the arrogant bastard's head in, rip his arms off, tear out his precious little _eyes_ and mash 'em into nothing! How DARE he beat up Sakura-chan like that then act like it didn't matter?

The genin could feel the metal railing deforming under the full force of his grip, the groaning sound drawing more than a few stares in his direction. He needed some kind of outlet for this emotion, now. If his fight wasn't up next...

At just that moment, the board stopped flashing through the remaining names to reveal the next two contestants. He felt himself smile, not in happiness, but in relief and anticipation. The proctor, who seriously needed to check himself into a hospital for that cough, called them both down for the match. It was perfect. He'd drawn that weird bastard from Iwa, the only one left he could really go all-out against, as the other two remaining were both Konoha-nins.

The blonde was about to vault over the railing, more than ready to start, when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. He froze.

"Keep a hold of yourself down there." Ino's words brought with them a sudden feeling of calm. The wave of emotion washed over him, seeming to spread out from the point where her hand rested.

The boy knew she was still furious with the Uchiha as well, even more so than he himself was, and no doubt in severe pain. But she'd pushed all that aside to express her concern for him. Having friends, people who truly, honestly cared about him, was a wonderful feeling and one he promised himself to never take for granted.

Naruto turned to look into her blue eyes, his own expressing the gratitude he felt towards her at the moment. "I will. Thanks, Ino."

The hand was removed, but that calm feeling that had come with it remained. He could still feel the rage bubbling away under that, but it was no longer right at the surface, controlling his thoughts and actions. Instead he could control it, use it without being used by it. Good, because from his brief run-in with Akira and his teammates, the blonde knew he'd need a level head if he wanted to win this.

He made a small leap to the middle of the room, landing directly opposite the waiting Stone shinobi. From his kage bunshin's memories, he knew the guy was nearly as fast as him and a good bit stronger. The feel of his ribs shattering as his clone had taken that hit was enough to make him flinch mentally. The boy reminded himself to be sure and chakra-reinforce his body anytime he might be struck.

Outside of some impressive taijutsu and toughness to possibly rival his own however, Naruto had no solid idea what his opponent was capable of. This would have to be a mostly defensive fight on his part, thanks to that. He didn't like defensive.

"So, it's you again." Oh yeah, Akira was arrogant too. Not to the same degree as Sasuke-teme, but he had much more skill to back it up. "Sure you're not going to run away again, coward?"

The blonde growled threateningly, not at the insult, since there wasn't any truth behind it, but at the other boy himself. "What I said back in the forest still holds. Insult Yondaime-sama one more time, and I'll make you pay." He shifted into the ready stance of his father's dancing wave fist, fully prepared to get this match started. His opponent similarly readied himself, not even acknowledging his earlier promise.

"Well, -cough- as you're both clearly -cough- ready, feel free to begin," the examiner said before jumping back to give them room. Naruto moved in, at the same time creating four clones off to the sides of the room. If one of them saw he was about to take a serious hit, they would be able to kawarimi with him near-instantly.

As he closed with the taller boy, he shifted his left arm back ever so slightly, making his opponent think he was about to try a strike with it. The other genin subtly adjusted the positions of both his arms, the right to stop the attack and the left for a counterattack.

Too bad for him it was a feint, though, as Naruto planted his right foot and shoved backward hard with his left, crouching low as the force of the maneuver sent him spinning rapidly off to the side, passing just under the foreign ninja's extending fist, close enough to feel the wind on the back of his head. Completing his 360 degree pivot, he shot his left elbow out behind him and at an upward angle, the full force of his rotational momentum going into the attack.

The point was to swiftly get behind the enemy and drive your elbow into their kidneys, but the blonde wasn't quite fast enough for that yet. Instead, he caught his opponent about midway through turning to face him, and the strike went right up underneath the side of his ribcage. It was at that moment that he learned firsthand just how unnaturally tough the Iwa nins were; when the blow connected, it felt more like striking metal than human flesh.

Thankfully, even though the attack hadn't caused anywhere near as much damage as he'd hoped, the force behind it was still enough to knock the other boy several metes away. Otherwise, he would've been in a really bad position. There was a tug on his chakra from the kage bunshin off to the right, and he gave in to the sensation immediately. Just in time, too, as the instant he reappeared he received the memory of seeing handseals, followed by watching a stone spike nearly two feet long soar through the air, before feeling that same stone spike punch straight into his back and out his chest.

There was no time to rest, though, as another such spike was coming at him at high speeds. Naruto threw himself out of the way, but was a bit too slow. The damn thing still managed to hit his shoulder, tearing a gouge in the muscle and rubbing painfully against the bone on its trip to the wall. Well, shit. This guy could use jutsu silently. He concentrated chakra to the damaged area to speed up the healing process, but it would still be about a minute till his arm was fully functional again.

And there was already a kunai right on course to penetrate his skull. The clones he'd made earlier had all been dispelled by those spikes, too. The blonde brought his left hand over to meet his right, forming the familiar cross-shaped handseal.

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

That'd keep the bastard busy for a good bit.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Looking down at the fight below, Kakashi silently cursed himself for having been so blind. It took less than two seconds of watching him fight to realize the boy was Sensei's son. The way he moved, even the way he spoke sometimes, was like seeing a miniature version of Minato-sensei. Not to mention that they looked almost identical. That no one had known...

No, there had to have been people who knew, undoubtedly Hokage-sama, and Asuma, as he was Naruto's sensei. Gai, too, since no one else could have taught him Sensei's taijutsu. And it was definitely his father's taijutsu the blonde was using. The use of rotation to put power behind his strikes and the uncommon curved fingers were proof enough of that.

But if Minato-sensei was the father, who was the mother...? Of course, Uzumaki! Just like Sandaime-sama to hide the obvious in plain sight. And just like everyone else, he'd bought right in to the story that Kushina-sama had passed her clan name on to a random orphan as she died.

Hundreds of tiny things in the silver-haired jonin's memories took on new meaning. The way Sensei and Kushina-sama had always acted around one another. The woman's long-term classified mission that had started nine months before the Kyuubi attack. And many of Naruto's mannerisms and actions as well.

Concentrating on the blonde and his revelations about him was also a welcome distraction from what had just occurred with his own student. He'd need to find a suitable punishment for Sasuke, some way to relieve him of the idea that the world revolved around him. Kakashi just hoped the boy wasn't already too far gone.

No, he shouldn't be thinking about that right now. Sensei's son was down there, fighting for his life against an Iwa genin who clearly had no reservations about going for killing blows. The boy's brown-haired opponent had unnatural skill and strength for his age, easily dispatching all the clones that came at him.

Naruto may be using Minato-sensei's style, but the way he fought was far more reminiscent of the boy's mother. When he'd used his mass shadow clones, he had used it primarily as a stalling tactic (the idea of spending so much chakra just to stall an opponent made the jonin's head spin), but seventeen clones spread throughout the crowd had henged into small chips of stone, taking the exact position and shape of real bits of debris from the earlier matches, which they crushed to powder before transforming. It was so perfectly done that only a sensor-type or someone with a chakra-seeing dojutsu would be able to notice the switch during the heat of battle had they not seen it occur.

Kakashi also had his first chance to witness the boy's rumored miraculous healing factor in action. Keeping his eyes on the original, the man could actually see the damaged muscle repairing itself and the skin closing back up over the injury. And once he recovered, the blonde wasted no time going back on the offensive. He made and dispelled a single clone, instantly passing on whatever his plan was to the eleven remaining. They immediately repositioned themselves to surround the Iwa shinobi in a circle about seven meters across, all going through the same series of handseals. But wait, using that jutsu in combat made no sense... What was he planning?

"**Fuuton: Onbin Kaze no Jutsu!"** (wind element: gentle wind technique)

Naruto's voice called out the jutsu name from eleven places, and just as the name suggested, eleven light breezes swirled in on his confused opponent. The Onbin Kaze no Jutsu had been created for things like rustling up leaves to misdirect enemy attention while sneaking about, not for the middle of a fight. Then Kakashi spotted the original once again, though truthfully it would have been rather hard to miss him as he leapt into the air, arcing straight over the other boy while gathering up so much chakra it formed a visible blue glow around his hands. Hands speeding through handseals known to nearly every Konoha ninja.

"**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"**

An enormous, wild mass of flame spewed forth from his mouth. Chakra-fueled fire met chakra-fueled wind, and the gentle air currents gave the burning death direction and focus. It was a brilliant idea. A strong wind jutsu would have tried to compete with the fire jutsu, resulting in a messy, spread-out firestorm, but the softer wind guided it along, taking the uncontrolled energy and concentrating it just as well as many high-intensity fire jutsu.

But the Stone genin wouldn't go down that easily.

"**Doton: Iwa no Yoroi"** (earth element: rock armor)

Ah, yes. Kakashi had some distinct memories of this particularly annoying jutsu from back during the war. That the boy had called out its name after having proven he could use silent jutsus was evidence that he was putting his full effort into the defensive ninjutsu. A smart choice, as Naruto's combination attack was devastatingly powerful. This was shaping up to be quite an interesting match, especially considering that both fighters were still genin. The Copy Ninja really wasn't sure who would win, but he believed in his Sensei's son...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After eight seconds, the heat got to be too much for his kage bunshin, and they dispersed. With no more wind coming in to feed the fire, that died out just a second later. At the center of the scorched floor, Naruto could see a human-shaped mass of rocks, red-hot from his attack. The rocks slowly fell away to reveal his opponent, unharmed but for light burns on his entire body. Damnit, he'd been hoping to end the fight with that combo, but from what he knew of this guy, the pain probably wouldn't even slow him down.

Akira grinned at him. "That was a nice trick you did there, but it's not enough." Then the boy started making handseals at a damn fast speed. Shit, he shouldn't have been standing still like that! The blonde immediately leapt at his opponent, throwing a double handful of shuriken in a wide spread, hoping to force him to abort whatever jutsu he was using.

But the Konoha ninja hadn't been quite fast enough, and a huge circular stone spike exploded out of the floor towards him from right in front of the tall boy, scattering his shuriken. Naruto twisted in midair, putting his hands forward as he rotated his body to better vault off the non-pointy surface of the fast-approaching earth technique.

It was a mistake. The moment his hands touched the surface, he felt the shift in the jutsu's chakra flow and pushed off with all his strength, but he had no chance of being fast enough to prevent the two sharp growths that speared right through his palms. Very not good. With a gaping hole right through bone, ligaments, and tendons, he couldn't move his fingers anymore. Not being able to move his fingers meant no ninjutsu, no taijutsu involving his hands, and no thrown weapons. Plus the wounds were bleeding. And they hurt. A lot.

If the missing patches were a bit smaller, the blonde could've used chakra to bridge the gap temporarily, but now he'd have to wait for his healing to kick in. His feet, on the other hand, were still just fine, so he channeled chakra to them, attaching himself to the ceiling the moment he touched it.

The next instant, Naruto had to run out of the way as another spike branched off the original, shooting straight up at him. As he just barely dodged a painful death, the rock spire dug into the ceiling, and yet another extension rushed off of that one towards him. For that bastard to have this much control over a jutsu was just plain crazy!

A brief glance down showed him that at least Akira couldn't move while doing this. Now, how to take advantage of that? He wanted to keep his hidden kage bunshin hidden until it was absolutely necessary, and most of his other usual options were out thanks to the state of his hands. So it would have to be a fast, powerful, single strike with a taijutsu technique, probably a kick. He was good at kicks.

Now, it was just a problem of getting close enough with these damn spikes following him everywhere. It looked like they could only come in straight lines, and only one at a time (as long as they weren't really small), but the things were fast and gave next to no warning. Well, the blonde had always done his best work when he simply went with his instinct and figured things out along the way. It had never failed him yet.

Leaping to a spot on the floor a good distance from any of the spikes (and twirling in midair to land right-side-up), the young shinobi was pleased to see that the jutsu's speed was limited. While there was no way he could outrun it, his speed in a jump was enough to give him some distance. He looked at the tangled mess of pointy stone growths that had formed in the middle of the room over the past couple minutes, quickly finding a free spot that would work for launching his attack.

Less than a tenth of a second after he landed, he was hurtling through the air again, back towards the ceiling. The spike the Iwa nin had shot at him before still hadn't reached its destination, so he couldn't send out any new ones just yet. His feet firmly attaching to the ceiling almost right above the other boy, the Konoha genin drew his body up into a sort of upside-down squat. Since his opponent was pretty much giving him a free shot, he was going to put as much power behind it as he possibly could without overloading himself with chakra. If he happened to shatter the teme's shoulder or something, so much the better; he _had_ called his father a bastard.

Naruto shoved off with so much force he actually felt the ceiling sink in about a centimeter where his feet had been. He immediately threw himself into a forward tumble while curling into a tight ball, using what he could of pure wind manipulation to increase the rotational speed even further. When he was about halfway down the room, another growth shot out of the original spike, and his left leg flashed out to meet it, the limb encased in chakra both to lessen the damage it took and to keep the force of the kick from altering his path. The stone point cut a deep gash on the back of his thigh before the whole thing shattered. If he'd had the time or effort to spare, he would've frowned in puzzlement; the rock in this jutsu was weaker than regular rock, despite being infused with chakra. Weird.

But he didn't have the time or effort to spare, because he was far too busy slamming his right heel into Akira's... arm? Wow, that was an insanely fast block. Crashing down on the other boy with enough force that he bent over and the floor gave in over an inch where he was standing, the blonde ninja couldn't help but be shocked when the arm, which by all sensible estimates should've snapped like a twig, held firm. His blow had chipped the bone, but that was it.

Apparently, the doton ninjutsu he'd used required constant concentration to keep its form, because the whole thing crumbled into dust around them. The orange-clad shinobi kept pushing with his leg, using it to redirect his momentum to fling himself a good thirty yards away, outside the dust cloud. Both boys waited for it to settle. Then, glaring at his smug, grinning adversary, Naruto couldn't help but blurt his thoughts aloud.

"What the hell are you?"

The Iwa genin smiled proudly "'What am I' you ask? I'm the future." The look he had on his face showed that he somehow thought this explained everything.

He hadn't actually expected the tall boy to be in a talking mood, but the blonde, despite his status as an idiot, was not stupid enough to waste such a huge advantage. If this guy wanted to talk, he would both be able to find out more about him and have the time for his hands (and now leg) to heal. "The future? I never knew a person was capable of being a concept of time. But hey, if you're the future, then you already know that this fight's gonna end with me kicking your ass."

"Very funny," the tall boy responded, clearly not meaning it. "What I mean is that I and those like me will be the ones to lead the ninja world into a new age, where the indestructible Iwagakure no Sato will rule over the entire world! Selected at birth for our superior genetics, we have been trained our entire lives, given drugs and surgical enhancements to bring us to the height of our potential!" As he spoke, his voice grew louder, and his words took on a crazed, fanatical tone. To support his ravings, he crouched down and pulled his fist back, before driving it into the floor with a shout. A crater formed in the solid stone nearly a foot across, cracks spreading out even further around it.

The brown-eyed ninja grinned in amusement. "And we are but the first. A weak little Leaf like you, defeat _me_? Not a chance."

Naruto felt like bursting out in laughter at the sheer irony of the whole thing. This guy seriously thought that above-average genes, a bunch of training, and some medical improvements guaranteed his victory? And here he was, essentially created by an impossibly powerful demon to be some sort of perfect body.

"Oh," Akira spoke up again, an odd gleam in his eyes. "I just wanted to add that your Yondaime was an idiot and a fool, wasting his life to save a bunch of even more idiotic and foolish people from the Kyuubi. Now, I think you said something about making me suffer. Let's see you try."

"**FUUTON: KAZE NO YAIBA!"**

The blonde wasn't even fully aware of making the handseals for the lethal jutsu, before swinging his arm in a wide horizontal arc. A thick rock wall sprung up between him and his enemy, slowing the wind blade down just long enough for him to jump up out of the way before it was cut straight through. The proctor, too, had leapt up on top of the handseal statue to keep from being cleaved in two as the chakra-heavy technique made a deep gash all along the back wall of the room.

Just like every other time he got this angry, the kitsune was roaring at him, trying to tempt him with that oh-so-sweet feeling of unstoppable, infinite power. Naruto violently crushed any and all thoughts of accepting the "offer." He made his favorite handseal.

Fifty one kage bunshins appeared in a burst of smoke, the last one dispelling the moment it formed, passing along new orders to the disguised clones from earlier. They were to concentrate entirely on studying the Iwa genin's chakra. Find a way to do something about those damn earth techniques, and figure out how best to make that bastard fucking _hurt_.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the match with a serious expression on his face. Naruto and his clones had started throwing out wind jutsu, kunai, and shuriken from multiple angles, while a few of them moved in close for taijutsu. His opponent had created five iwa bunshin, which were absorbing the brunt of the blonde's assault as they came at the larger force with their characteristic sluggish movements, the weight of their stone bodies leaving foot-shaped indentations in the floor as they ran.

The revelation about Hidden Stone's special program was troubling. It wasn't the program itself. Similar things had been done in all the villages at one point or another, Danzo's Root coming to mind, but none of them had had the best of results. The ninjas they produced were either highly unstable or not far enough beyond their more ordinary counterparts to be worth the resources, time, and effort put into them, sometimes both.

The boy's bragging claim was clear evidence of Iwa's usual militaristic nature. Apparently, they'd taken the lesson learned in the Third Great Ninja War about quality over quantity a bit too far. And that he would so openly and publicly release a village secret, with the full approval of his jonin sensei (the woman had actually been smiling down proudly), meant that the Tsuchikage was clearly overestimating the success of this program, based on the results the Sandaime saw before him.

For a genin, the Stone shinobi displayed exceptional skill and power. Had he been matched up against any of Konoha's contestants other than Naruto, the aged Hokage had no doubt he would have been victorious, but there was no large gap between the two, and the blonde had the strength of his beliefs to support him. Just then, the last of the iwa bunshin was destroyed, one final flying kick to its chest by a shadow clone enough to shatter it after the onslaught it had already endured. The flying shards of stone took out the clone and a couple others nearby.

What troubled Hiruzen about the new information was the simple fact that it was new. That their spies had failed to discover the existence of a program like this that had been running for at least thirteen years spoke of a huge blind spot in Konoha's information network. Coupling that with the recent discovery of the existence of the so-called "Youkaigakure," and Orochimaru's infiltration of the Exams... Jiraiya was focusing a bit too much on the Akatsuki, especially considering the significant lack of results the investigation had produced thus far.

Yet another thing to talk to his perverted student about. But that was for later. Right now, one of his ninjas was fighting for his life; as Hokage, he had a duty to watch.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damnit, this was getting frustrating. They'd been going at it for over a half hour now, and Naruto still had yet to cause any real damage. Both boys were starting to breathe a bit more heavily, and the blonde had a fair amount of blood and bruises on him from injuries both healed and healing. This was the first time his endurance had been put to the test like this in a real combat situation.

Plus, Akira was periodically throwing out taunts that were really getting on his nerves. He wanted to just _beat _that smirk off the bastard's face; that he was currently no closer to doing this than he'd been at the start of the fight was infuriating.

Hearing a rush of air behind him, the blonde dropped into a low crouch, tiny, high-speed pebbles soaring just over his head from yet another silent jutsu. The next instant, an earth clone was coming up on his left with a sweeping kick. Had he dodged the previous attack by simply letting himself fall, springing to a side, or jumping into the air, as the tall boy had obviously been hoping for, he would've been wide open.

At least his opponent had pretty much stopped with those rock clones. The things were as annoying as hell: they were slow and their movements pathetically easy to read, but still fast enough that he couldn't just ignore them. On top of that, the things could absorb a lot of damage, had absolutely no sense of pain, and packed a super-strong punch.

The earth clones the guy had been sending out for the past twenty minutes in attempt to counter his own never-ending stream of kage bunshin, on the other hand, really weren't all that bad. While just as fast as the original, they were a good bit weaker, and one or two good hits was enough to take them out. Halting the incoming leg by grabbing the shin with his left hand, Naruto yanked the replica towards him, slamming his right fist down forcefully on top of the locked knee. He smiled in grim satisfaction at the howl of pain that accompanied its leg bending in a way it wasn't supposed to, wishing it were the real Akira instead. While it was still stunned from the pain, he brought his right leg up and around, his foot connecting with the side of its head as its neck snapped.

As the tsuchi bunshin he'd just finished off crumbled into a pile of dirt, another one came up behind him, wanting to stab him in the back with a kunai. The young Konoha ninja caught it by the wrist in mid-thrust, and one of his clones embedded a kunai of his own in its skull. That particular copy of himself was then scratched by a flying shard of rock and dispersed. He'd considered making some of his tougher kage bunshin to deal with that problem, but it wasn't really worth it. They weren't tough enough to stand up to a direct hit from a doton jutsu or taijutsu, and he couldn't afford to keep on replacing them like he could regular kage bunshin. He sorted through he just-destroyed clone's memories and was just barely in time to leap out of the way of a huge boulder that soared right across the room. Five of his clones in its path weren't quite so fast.

While Naruto was still in midair, a sudden rush of information flooded his brain. One of the clones he'd disguised as rocks early on in the fight had just dispelled. For about an eighth of a second, he was completely disconnected from the present as his mid processed the memories. On returning to reality, only seven unhidden kage bunshin remained, the rest having been frozen at critical moments by the information overload. One of the jutsu's disadvantages.

But the stuff he'd just learned from the clone... This was great! He spent a quarter second deciding what he'd do now, before creating a kage bunshin in the air next to him. The two of them quickly linined up their feet and launched off of each other, propelling him straight for the original Akira. The clone went up in smoke immediately after, passing along his battle plan to all the others still left. The blonde couldn't spend the chakra to make any more at the moment, because he'd need to have as much as he could ready for this to work.

Five of the kage bunshins charged right up into the faces of the four remaining tsuchi bunshins and one iwa bunshin, releasing all their energy in ferocious blasts of wind chakra that shredded both themselves and their targets. The remaining two, the closest ones to the tall shinobi, rushed him, forcing him to cancel whatever ninjutsu he was in the middle of.

The Iwa ninja threw his left foot out in a side kick at the first attacker, scoring a direct hit on the chest. Good, just like he'd expected. Having the cumulative experience of about a full day fighting someone really helped in predicting their movements. The second shadow clone went right under the oncoming fist as he dived for the ground, ignoring the boy completely in favor of channeling a high concentration of wind chakra into the floor his right foot was resting on. That small patch of floor then exploded, taking the clone with it.

The next instant, the original Naruto reached him, shoving aside the brief memory of his ribcage shattering from his first kage bunshin, sliding in and delivering a strong upwards double-footed leg thrust to his chest. He knew the attack wouldn't cause any real damage, with what he now understood about the boy's chakra system, that extraordinary resiliency finally made sense, but causing damage wasn't his goal here. With both his opponent's feet now off the ground, he was temporarily unable to attach himself to the floor with chakra, so the laws of physics meant that the force behind the blow sent him flying up into the air.

Akira didn't bother twisting to land on the ceiling, instead just pushing off of it with his hands, leaving behind a pair of imprints. The young demon container was using this same time to gain a couple seconds' rest. How much did it cost Konoha to rebuild this room after each time it was used, he wondered. Was it normally this heavily damaged?

Seeing the Iwa shinobi land on the ground and start another rapid handseal sequence was his cue to move. When he'd just about closed the distance between them, the expression on his opponent's face morphed from triumph to confusion, and the blonde smirked.

Naruto spun about in a full circle on his right foot, his left leg picking up the full momentum of the spin as his hands quickly went through a series of eight familiar handseals. Akira's right hand grabbed his left shin before the kick could connect, similar to what he'd done to the tsuchi bunshin less than a minute ago. But then the young Konoha ninja strained to draw his legs together, while keeping his right foot firmly attached to the floor with chakra. This bastard might've been stronger than him overall, but his upper body wasn't as strong as both the blonde's legs working together, so he was forcibly bent forward.

"**Fuuton: Guufuuken no Jutsu"** (wind element: tornado fist)

The swirling, chakra-saturated winds condensed around his left hand as it sped directly for his opponent's navel. The other boy's left hand slammed into his left side, breaking two chakra-reinforced ribs, but Naruto gritted his teeth and pushed the pain aside. Then the blonde's punch connected. Akira's eyes widened and he stilled as what must've been excruciating pain flashed through his body.

Then the Iwa nin's face contorted in rage and his right foot shot up. Shit, no way to dodge. Naruto channeled as much chakra to his abdomen as he could before the kick connected. It didn't really do much.

Pain, as he went hurtling upwards. More pain, as he was embedded back-first nearly a foot into the ceiling. Fuck, his stomach hurt! And why the fuck didn't that work? He'd pumped just about all the chakra in his body into that one hit, and it still hadn't been enough. Now, he was drained, and his whole body was screaming at him as it worked to repair the damage.

Why the hell couldn't he beat this bastard? He was Uzumaki Naruto, the boy strong enough to hold back the Kyuubi no Kitsune itself, and he was about to lose to some deranged, brainwashed freak! His opponent sprang up towards him, fist drawn back, ready to pound his skull into paste.

Naruto was just too tired to try and avoid it.

A stream of memories flashed through his mind. He wondered briefly if it was what people meant by one's life flashing before their eyes, until he recognized the sensation as a kage bunshin dispelling. Laughing, eating ramen with a cute redheaded little girl. Asuka-chan, his brain supplied. Of course. The shadow clone watching over her must've felt it was time to replace himself. He remembered looking on as she played with her friends in the park, their smiles and laughter, just an hour ago when he'd been at Ino's bed, desperate for her to be okay.

If he let himself lose now, she'd end up alone. And his teammates, Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, and Asuma-sensei, they'd all be in pain if he died. So would Hokage-jiji, and the Ichirakus, all his friends, in Konoha and elsewhere.

But it was more than that. If he failed here, what was there to say he couldn't fail again, but this time in his all-important task of holding back the Kyuubi. Were the demon to get a hold of his body, the body it so craved, it would mean the end of everything!

Naruto could not allow that. He _would not_ allow that! His father, Iruka-sensei, everyone who had died for him, and all the countless people who were still alive depended on him!

So what if he was currently having his ass handed to him by some crazy lab experiment! He was Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha, and he never gave up!

The world snapped back into focus, and Akira's fist was milliseconds away from smashing into his skull. With so little time, the only thing the blonde could do was to gather up as much chakra as he could and release it in a single burst. The pulse of pure energy hurled his opponent back to the ground and made a spherical hole in the ceiling around him about two yards wide.

Naruto was grateful beyond words that Asuma-sensei had convinced him to pay to have that chakra thread stuff woven throughout all his clothes, so that they'd be unaffected by his own chakra. Otherwise, he'd be in a really embarrassing situation right about now. If solid stone hadn't survived that, there was no way the heavy-duty fabric full of rips would have. The zipper on his jacket, however, was not so lucky, and the garment ripped open straight down the middle, exposing part of the black T-shirt he wore underneath.

The young ninja formed a kage bunshin and used the clone to redirect his fall, not wanting to land right on top of the other boy. Okay, so that last attack hadn't been enough to end the fight. It had still damaged Akira, which proved that his theory was right. He'd just need to hit him with more power next time. A lot more power.

A plan began to take shape, and Konoha's prankster king smirked.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She was confused. She'd always respected and admired Naruto-kun, always believed in him... But Hinata couldn't help but wonder: _what_ was he _doing_?

When he'd taken that huge blow earlier it must have affected his brain somehow, because ever since then he had been acting very strange. First, the blonde had used his kage bunshin no jutsu, but nothing had happened. Then he'd started to sing.

Naruto-kun was an amazing ninja, but the Hyuuga heiress had learned that her crush really wasn't that great a singer. His song choice hadn't helped much, either. For over a half hour, he had been belting out "the song that never ends" nonstop It was really a very appropriate title, as the entire thing consisted of four lines that repeated over and over... and over... and over. It had finally ended when Gekko-san had given him an ultimatum: stop or be disqualified.

And throughout the entire time, the orange-clad genin had yet to actually attack his opponent. As a matter of fact, he'd been constantly running away from the tall boy, who was still incapable of using any of his doton ninjutsu.

The way Naruto-kun had managed that... was pure genius. Hinata knew she would never have thought of the idea, let alone been able to pull it off. The first time Akira-san's attack had failed, she had immediately activated her Byakugan to find out what was going on. Earth techniques, it seemed, required that the user push their chakra into the ground before they could take effect. The boy's disguised clones had somehow spread their own chakra all throughout the floor, walls, and ceiling of the room, most likely when he'd knocked the other ninja up into the air, leaving no place for his opponent to use the jutsus from. On top of that, the Iwa shinobi could no longer use chakra to attach himself to surfaces, and the chakra that was flowing through them made them all act essentially as a single solid object, so his devastating blows did more damage to his own body than the room.

But instead of using the obvious advantages the situation gave him, her crush was now bouncing around the room randomly. It didn't make any sense. Instead of fighting, he seemed intent on simply annoying the other boy as much as possible...

That particular line of thought was interrupted quite suddenly when a small army of orange-clad shinobi stampeded into the room. They were carrying a variety of different things. Paint... confetti... buckets of water... superglue... ramen? Yes, there were most definitely at least ten clones that had brought bowls of Ichiraku ramen.

They immediately got to work. The clones with the paint ran up the back wall of the room and started slopping the substance onto the stone. The ones with confetti took their loads to the ceiling. Was Naruo-kun seriously about to start _pranking_ his opponent?

Yes. Yes he was. The blonde began taunting the tall boy, actually stopping several times to stick his tongue out at him. When missed strikes connected with surfaces, glue would be waiting, causing the limbs to become stuck until their owner tugged hard enough. One time, when the enraged boy (dripping with ice-cold-water) made the mistake of rushing him blindly, the Konoha ninja tripped him, causing him to land on his back in a pile of the sticky glue. Confetti and cheers rained down from the ceiling and balcony, where kage bunshins that had completed their tasks went off to. And proudly spread across the back wall, in bright orange paint, were the words "Iwa sucks." The Naruto-kuns who had painted it were now decorating the area with spirals of all different sizes.

"You little bastard! I'll TEAR YOUR HEAD OFF!" Akira-san screamed, his eyes darting about wildly as he scratched at his hair in a vain attempt to fight the itching powder that had just been placed there.

"Gotta find me first!" several clones shouted back, all from different directions. Most of the audience, Hinata included, had begun to laugh at the spectacle. The real Naruto-kun (at least she thought it was the real one) was sitting behind his teammates, devouring his third bowl of ramen.

The Hyuuga heiress looked to her left, where her teammates were reacting to the whole situation exactly as she had come to expect. Namely, Shikamaru-kun sighing and looking bored, with the occasional mutter of "troublesome," and Chouji-kun doubled over in laughter while continuously stuffing chips into his mouth. How the two of them could be such good of friends while being so different from each other was something the girl had taken a while to realize.

Truly, she was glad Chouji-kun hadn't been hurt too badly during his fight. The medic-nins had been able to patch up all his injuries and heal his broken bones without a problem. Many others, like Neji-niisan, Lee-kun, and especially Sakura-san hadn't been so lucky. She really did feel bad for them, but it would have been far more disappointing had the kind, jovial boy been so severely injured.

Noticing her gaze, Kurenai-sensei gave the kunoichi a proud smile. None of team eight had won their matches, but that smile reminded Hinata that she had put up a good fight. Naruto-kun had even told her she'd done a good job! Of course, she'd believed it to be nothing more than her imagination at the time, as he'd said it immediately upon her awakening, and she'd lost consciousness immediately afterwards, but her teammates had later confirmed that the event had actually happened.

Over the past few months, Hinata had become much better at being around her crush, thanks mostly to the efforts of her two teammates. Shikamaru-kun had come up with the idea of one of them using henge to take on Naruto-kun's appearance, then do their best to act like the blonde. Chouji-kun would often have long talks with her, having gone through the same sort of shyness she had. The frequent joint-team training sessions were also extremely helpful, as they forced her to be in close proximity to the blonde.

The girl had reached the point where she could hold a casual conversation with Naruto-kun, without stuttering or passing out, a fact she was secretly proud of. But when she'd woken up after her match with Kiba-kun to find the boy right up next to her, his strong hands on her shoulders, his smooth, powerful chakra flowing through her body, and he'd complimented her on her fight, it had simply been too much.

"Oi, Hinata, Chouji, Shikamaru!" His voice came from right behind her, and the Hyuuga heiress spun quickly, letting out a small eep of surprise Father would have frowned at. Standing just inches away was one of Naruto-kun's kage bunshin, holding a bowl of ramen.

His blue eyes were practically glowing with laughter and joy. "I wanted to know if you guys wanted some ramen. We kinda brought more bowls than we needed, y'see..." Her sharp eyes couldn't help but notice the way his jacket was hanging open, and how the sweat-drenched T-shirt underneath clung to his body, revealing a lean, muscular torso...

Hinata fainted, a small trickle of blood dribbling from her nose.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto spun to one side to avoid a punch, while keeping the final bowl of ramen level between his hands. Damn, it was hard enough dodging attacks when he _didn't_ have to be careful not to risk spilling the heavenly broth. Not that he'd be eating it, of course. These particular holy noodles had a very special purpose.

And Akira had gone way past just being enraged, not letting up on his offensive for an instant. He was running low on shadow clones too. But really, the young genin only had himself to blame for this, it being entirely his idea. He'd expected his plan to be effective, but not this effective. The Iwa shinobi had confessed that he'd been shut away in that special training program most of his life, so he'd figured the guy would never have experienced the kind of constant teasing and embarrassment a true prankster could rain down on someone.

Plus, it was really fun.

Quickly putting a couple yards in between them, the blonde spun to face his opponent and promptly laughed in his face. "Ha, ha! You can't hit me!" He held his arms ever-so slightly away from his body, offering the ramen as a tempting target without making it obvious the he actually wanted the tall boy to go for the food.

Thankfully, this forty-second attempt at baiting the angry ninja finally showed success. Akira's right hand swiped quickly at the bowl, while the same leg threw a snap-kick at his gut. This time, he'd been completely expecting the attack and wasn't caught off-guard. It still hurt like hell, but there weren't any shattering bones or near-loss-of-consciousness to accompany the pain. He slammed into the far wall, then fell to the floor, not getting up.

Now for the part of the plan that was out of his control. What happened next would depend on the Iwa nin's actions. From his position glaring up at the boy, the blonde could see him smirking in triumph. "Seems you really love this ramen. I wonder what you'd think if I were to... eat it in front of you."

Naruto could have laughed in delight right at that moment, would it not have completely ruined the whole charade. Instead, he wailed, "Noooooo! My rrraaaammmmmeeeeennnn!" He continued to make whimpering protests as the other boy slurped up the noodles. Inside though, his anger was rising again. The brown-eyed boy wasn't enjoying the divine food one bit! He was only gobbling up the dish to spite him! How DARE he eat Teuchi-sama's glorious cooking with such impure thoughts!

And that fury rekindled the feelings from earlier, when the bastard had insulted Konoha and his father. He reigned in his emotions however, allowing none of them outward expression. Then, the moment Akira had drained the last of the soup, the blonde released the tight hold on his emotions and chakra. The massive amount of energy he'd spent the past fifteen minutes pouring into the food was released in an instant, flooding his enemy's body and vanishing all at once, leaving the Stone ninja drained and weak.

All twenty four remaining clones pounced immediately, the ones who had been disguised as rocks this whole time no longer being needed in their former roles. Four latched on to each of Akira's arms and eight per leg, all crouched down, gluing themselves to the floor with chakra. They pulled his limbs off to the sides and held them there tightly. The bastard was now effectively immobilized.

Naruto got up and walked over to the vainly-struggling boy. "Food, being made of things that were once alive, can be very heavily saturated with chakra before it becomes noticeable. Just how heavily depends on a bunch of stuff, like what the food's made of and how it was prepared. The ramen you just ate had enough chakra to fry your chakra coils." He had a promise to fulfill, but he'd give his opponent one last chance. "Surrender, and take back what you said"

Brown eyes glared at him in hatred. "N-never!" Any other time, determination like that would've impressed the young shinobi, but this had come from a lifetime of brainwashing. Even now, the idiot was hiding behind the beliefs and thoughts that had been forced into him, instead of wanting to break free and be his own person.

"You're pitiful," the blonde spat. Now that Akira was restrained, he had all the time in the world to set up the finishing strike. It was the single most powerful blow in the dancing wave fist, a straight thrust, with the whole body working in unison to concentrate as much force as possible through the fingertips of one hand. Naruto still wasn't very good at the attack, which was why he'd gone through this whole ordeal. He only had the one shot, so he needed to be sure he set it up right.

Planting his left foot firmly behind him, the boy flattened out his right hand and locked his wrist before drawing his right arm back until his fingers were even with his chest and his forearm parallel with the ground. He double-checked that his back leg was bent at the proper angle, his body in a straight line, and his hand on target to hit where he wanted it to.

Then, he channeled a short, overloading burst of chakra to all his muscles at once as he moved in one fluid motion. The right leg stepped forward and bent at the knee and ankle as the left straightened, his upper body twisted to the left, starting from the hips and working up to the shoulders, and his right hand shot straight forward, with the power of the entire movement behind it. His fingers impacted right in his opponent's navel.

Were it not for the Stone nin's surgically enhanced body, the blow would have killed him instantly. As it was, the force was so great that even with all twenty four kage bunshins prepared for it and bracing as hard as they could, the whole mass was pushed back several yards. Just the residual effects of the attack were enough to dispel them, and his opponent crumpled to the ground, no longer able to move.

Naruto kept himself standing through sheer willpower. With the amount of damage he'd caused himself just then, coupled with everything he'd taken throughout the fight, he knew that trying to move even the slightest bit would cause him to collapse. And it would be beyond ridiculous to win the fight only to be taken out of the running for chunin because he lost consciousness before being announced the winner.

His brain faintly registered Hayate making that exact announcement, and he let himself slip into blissful unconsciousness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Naruto woke, the first thing he registered was the severe ache throughout his entire body. Raising his eyelids hurt. Hell, _breathing_ hurt. He tried to move, but immediately dropped the idea, a moan of pain escaping his lips.

"Huh?" Kiba's face moved into his line of vision. "Hey, you're awake! Don't try t'move. Your body's still healing."

"...Too late..." the blonde forced out.

He was laying on his back. The cool stone floor of the balcony felt comforting through his jacket. There was a tantalizing smell nearby, but he was still too out of it to place it.

"We knew you'd be up soon enough, and since it wasn't life-threatening, figured you'd rather stay here than have to come all the way back from the infirmary before the preliminaries ended." Ino limped over to him as she spoke. "It can be a long walk when you're hurting. Trust me."

The boy slowly formed his mouth into a smile. "Thanks..."

His male teammate sat him up against the wall, then reached down for something on the floor.

Naruto's eyes lit up when the Inuzuka revealed it to be one of the ramen bowls his clones had brought.

"We saved this for you, thought you might want it after the fight. Asuma-sensei kept it warm with a katon jutsu. That was a great battle, by the way." Though he could tell by her tone of voice that the other blonde's words were sincere, she had a sly glint in her eyes that warned him of some kind of mischief. It took him a second to realize just what it was about.

He still couldn't move his arms to eat. Damn it.

Seeing his glare, Kiba snickered. "Open wide!" A pair of chopsticks carrying a load of dripping noodles inched towards his mouth.

They knew him too well. There was no way the boy could turn down Ichiraku ramen, even if he had to humiliate himself for it.

After about thirty seconds of his teammate shoveling food in his mouth, there was a bright flash, and Naruto looked up to see Asuma-sensei holding a camera. He glared, wishing the Kyuubi could've given him some kind of eye laser to burn through embarrassing photographs.

Nevertheless, the ramen-feeding continued. By the time the bowl was drained of the remaining soup, he felt strong enough to talk and make slow movements without problems. Huh, apparently his healing rate increased exponentially during sleep, cause it should've taken him hours to get that far. Weird how he'd never noticed before.

"So, how was Tenten's match?" Now that his mind was clearer, he remembered that she and that Misumi guy had been the only ones left to fight. As there weren't any sounds of battle coming from down below, said fight had obviously ended.

"She won, no problem. The guy she was up against had this weird stretching ability, but he never got close enough to really do anything. Now Hokage-sama's waiting for Lee and the Uchiha to be brought back before telling us what's next. And speaking of telling..." Ino trailed off, giving him an impatient look.

Naruto sorted through his accumulated memories. One of his clones had promised that he'd tell them what he was doing in his match. "Oh, right. Well, I had my clones paying close attention to that bastard's chakra flow, cause something was definitely weird. Turns out that on top of the regular chakra coils, he had this chakra shell-type-thingy woven throughout his whole body. Probably one of those surgeries he mentioned. Whenever I hit him, the shell would spread out the impact, both jutsus and physical attacks, to the point where it barely did any damage at all. That's why those three were so ridiculously tough. It also worked to reinforce anything he did, amplifying speed, strength, ninjutsu, you name it.

"A bit of studying, and the kage bunshin came up with an idea that a hard enough hit in the right spot would shatter the shell. The way it was interconnected throughout his body, losing it would leave him barely able to function, permanently. So I went for a straight blow right to the core of his chakra circulatory system."

Team seven's bearded instructor joined in on the conversation. "Well, you were right. The medics say that boy will barely even be able to walk again, if he's lucky, and trying to move him any long distance would be fatal. Iwa will probably be forced to allow him permanent residence here in Konoha, in the hospital's long-term patient wing. It's a political mess, and there was a brief incident with his jonin sensei when the report first came through. They're going to bring in an objective group of med-nins to take a look at him, and what happens next will be based on their diagnosis. But one thing that's obvious is that he'll be in constant pain the rest of his life."

The Yamanaka frowned. "Couldn't you have just put a kunai to his throat or something?" She obviously didn't like the way he'd ended the fight. It wasn't hard to guess why.

"He still wouldn't have given up, and I would've had to kill him. Akira's a crazy bastard, too consumed by whatever they drilled into his head to really think for himself. I gave him a warning and a second chance. He turned them both down." Naruto had no regrets about what he'd done. That would be against his nindo.

Before the conversation could go any further, Fuzzy-brows walked into the room on crutches, a pair of medics accompanying him. Right behind them was Kakashi-sensei, the last Uchiha tied up with a thick rope and slung haphazardly over his shoulder.

"Attention, everyone," Hokage-jiji called out. "I need all the winners from the preliminary matches to come down to the floor."

All three of team seven's genin made their way down the stairs, Kiba the only one able to walk normally. Looking around, the blonde boy saw that all the damage the room had taken over the past several hours was already fixed. Asuma-sensei noticed his questioning stare. "There's regeneration seals all throughout this tower, the village training grounds too. Enough chakra, and everything's brand new again." Whoa, he really needed to learn fuuinjutsu. That stuff was awesome!

By the time they made it to the lineup, everyone else was already there, so Naruto, Ino, and Kiba placed themselves at the far right. The old man stood looking at them all and used his speech-giving voice, just like he had at the start of the preliminaries. "Congratulations, all of you, on making it to the final round of the chunin exams. The finals will be a tournament-style event held one month from now. Ibiki will come around with a basket. I would like each of you to take a slip of paper from the basket and read out the number on the paper."

The scarred examiner started on the left, where the foreign ninja were standing.

"Nine," Gaara called out.

"Two," from Kenzo, the only one remaining from the Iwa team.

"Six," said the now-unbound Sasuke-teme.

"Three," Tenten announced.

"Eight!" Fuzzy-brows called out excitedly, though lacking the full extreme of his usual nthusiasm.

"Four." Shino needed to learn about emotions.

"Seven," Ino said after glancing at her paper.

"One," Kiba stated quickly, obviously impatient to know what this was all about.

"Five." Naruto hadn't needed to look, since he was the last person and it was the only number missing.

The Sandaime gave them all a serious look. "Very well. The matchups for the finals have been determined." Hayate, the coughing proctor, who had been writing on a sheet of paper, turned said paper around for everyone to see. The first match would be Kiba and Kenzo, followed by Tenten and Shino, then (and Naruto gave a vicious grin at this) himself and Sasuke, and finally Lee and Gaara. Ino would fight the winner of that match, then everyone still left would move on to the second round.

"Good luck, and use the upcoming month well. That is all." Everyone made their way out of the hall, most of the genin with a new glint of determination in their eyes.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

I'm sorry about not showing Tenten's fight, but there really wouldn't have been much point to it. Nothing really happens, and everyone reading this already knows her skills, so I skipped over it in order to bring this section to a conclusion.

Anyway, I hope Naruto's match was enjoyable. I tried to give as many different perspectives on the fight as possible without making it drag on too long and without losing the main focus of the fight, which is Naruto. Also, you finally have an answer about the Iwa nins and all the weird things I've been hinting at about them.

This fight was one of my original ideas when I first started this story, though at the time it was more in the form of "Naruto fights super-powered Iwa genin." Since then, I've had a long time to to develop the idea, add things to it, and change it around. It was a great chance to show views of Naruto from people who haven't been in the story much so far, like Kakashi and Hinata, and it gave me the opportunity to show another side of the blonde as well. Despite his hatred of arrogant people like Sasuke and Neji, his own self-confidence will sometimes slip into that extreme.

I also used this chapter to introduce a new concept into my world of Naruto: the bit about previously-living things being far more receptive to chakra. The idea came up because of the wood element in canon and how it often seems to be so much stronger than stone. So, to explain that, I came up with this theory.

Hopefully you all liked the chapter.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ching965, Orion, ABitterPill


	26. the day after

**chapter 26**

**the day after**

"Hey, you three." As one, the genin of team seven turned to their sensei, who had just shunshined in behind them. It was the day after the preliminaries, and the young ninjas were eagerly anticipating the training they knew awaited them. They were meeting with the jonin in one of the many training grounds, to discuss just what they would be doing in the coming month.

Naruto responded for the group with an energetic "Morning, Asuma-sensei!" The other two nodded their agreement, and Akamaru barked out his own greeting.

"So, Sensei, what're we going to be doing?" Ino, who had mostly recovered from the poison yesterday, was obviously impatient to start.

But instead of answering right away, the bearded man gave his students a sly smile. It was a look that meant he had something interesting and unusual in mind. "Well, I thought I'd let you three decide." Sure enough, something very...

Wait, what?

The two blondes stayed quiet, expressing their confusion only through their expressions. Teammates worked together, and that included making sure they each had their own chance to talk, including Kiba. "Let us decide? What the hell?"

"You kids are already chunin in all but name." They beamed at the praise. "And once it is official, you'll each become responsible for your own training, so you can consider this a sort of preparation for the future."

As Naruto mulled the man's statement over, a worrisome thought came to mind. "Wait, so once we do become chunin, what'll happen to the team...?" He trailed off, not all too sure he wanted to hear the answer. Over the past six months, the others had become like a family to him. Asuma-sensei was the caring father he'd never had. What he had with Kiba was probably what it felt like to have a brother, someone he knew would always be there for him, despite any differences and arguments they might have. And Ino... he wanted to call her a sister, but it just didn't seem quite right, a sister was more like Ayame-neechan; what he felt for Ino was different. But he cared for her, and he knew she cared for him. The idea that this happy family might be split apart soon was something he found troubling.

But the bearded jonin's calm response instantly quelled those fears. "Don't worry, we'll still be working together. Dad's made it his policy not to split up a team unless there's major problems with the arrangement. That's not to say you'll be together on every mission, but at least most of them."

"That's good to hear." Ino sighed in relief. "I'd hate to find out what these two idiots would get up to without me to set them straight."

The other blonde glared at her, offended. "_You_ set _us_ straight? I guess you've forgotten about the mission back in August, when we were sent out to Bassai to catch a thief? If it were up to you, we'd have gotten the wrong person!"

But the Yamanaka retorted right away. "I still say she was hiding something. No woman can have a fashion sense that horrible. She was wearing those clothes for a reason, I'm sure of it. And that was one time I messed up! One time! You guys nearly _blew up_ the house we were supposed to be cleaning on our last D-rank, and I don't think I need to remind you about Tora." Both boy's faces fell at the memory of the nightmarish feline, and Akamaru started growling.

"We weren't gonna hurt her too much..." Naruto protested feebly. "Besides, de-clawing that monster would've been a community service!"

By this point, he and Ino were just inches apart, glaring harshly into one another's faces. "Oh I agree with you there, but the mission was to bring her back unharmed. If you'd torn her claws out, we would've failed for sure!"

"That's enough, you two." In a movement too fast for any of the genin to follow, Asuma-sensei had them both restrained and facing opposite directions, one hand securing each ninja's wrists behind their backs in a steel-hard grip. "We need to spend our time getting you all ready for the tournament, not squabbling pointlessly." Sufficiently chewed out, the young blondes calmed down, and the man let them go, Ino massaging her wrists as they walked back over to stand next to their third teammate. "Kiba, since your match is first, we'll start with you. Any ideas on how you plan to handle your opponent?"

That's right, the Inuzuka would be going up against Kenzo, the last of the Stone nins. The boy grinned. "Heh, now that we know those freaks' secrets, he won't be too hard, I'll just need one good attack to hit him with. Maybe I can get Mom to teach Akamaru an' me the garouga. Whaddaya think, boy?" The white puppy gave an excited bark.

Naruto barely restrained himself from punching his teammate in the face. Kiba could be overconfident to the point of true stupidity sometimes. "You really think that'll be enough?" he asked incredulously. "He's gonna be training during this month too, and you can be damn sure Iwa'll pick up on the flaw I pointed out and do something about it. And even if they don't, you saw what the guy's capable of; he'd beat you to a bloody pulp before you had time to pull off an attack like that. You're not gonna last in a prolonged fight against him the way you are now."

"You did a pretty good job holding your own against his teammate," the dog boy retorted aggressively, "So what makes you think I can't do just as good a job against him?"

"That's 'cause I'm a super-awesome ninja, while you're just regular-awesome," Naruto answered in a cheery tone. Hopefully it would get his point across while letting Kiba feel his pride was still intact. The blonde didn't relish the idea that this might lead to blows between them, but it was infinitely better for his friend to be hurt now instead of dead later.

Luckily, the young shinobi accepted it and deflated. "Well then, what does the super-awesome ninja suggest we do?"

The Inuzuka still needed to learn to think things through at least a little when he talked. It was something Naruto had learned the importance of the hard way. "Physically, you'll probably want to focus on your speed, agility, and reflexes, to better dodge attacks. From what we've seen, he's not as strong as Akira-teme was, but a solid hit'll still cost you the fight." He turned toward Asuma-sensei and Ino, both for confirmation and to see what they had to add.

Team seven's sensei gestured to the kunoichi, giving her permission to speak first. "Maybe you should look into genjutsu, too. Since you didn't use any before, he won't be expecting that and might be caught off-guard. Plus you're the only one of us with any real potential there, and you've been slacking off in that area recently. So that would benefit the team as a whole."

"Good thinking, all of you," the bearded jonin complimented. "One more thing, though. You might not want to rely on the garouga for your finishing move. From what I've heard of that jutsu, it'll leave you pretty close to dry if you use it. It's a safe assumption that your opponent will be Earth-natured, so a strong enough raiton would do just as well. I have an idea about that, but I'll have to get back to you tomorrow on it.

"Moving on. Ino, your situation is a difficult one, since you don't yet know who you'll be facing first, and both potential opponents are pretty powerful." Asuma-sensei fixed her with a serious gaze.

The blonde girl seemed to stop and think for a bit before speaking. "I don't think I'll be able to win my match, so I should probably just make the best showing I can and hope it's enough to get me promo-"

"What the hell're you saying, Ino?" Naruto found himself shouting out. "Of course you can win!"

She cut him off before he could say any more. "Against Lee? Maybe, but _only_ if he doesn't use that inner gate ability. Gaara though, he's already shown that he's more than willing to kill, and he's a jinchuriki with no reservations about drawing on his bijuu's power. I push him too much, and he'll squash me like a bug. And I can't risk using my clan jutsus on him either, thanks to the demon." Damn it. Why did she always have to make so much sense?

There was a short silence, broken by a bark from Akamaru. "So if you're not gonna be getting ready for your fight, what will you do?" Kiba translated.

"Good question," the bearded jonin commented, giving the dog and his partner a nod before turning to the girl. "Any ideas?"

The Yamanaka responded with an offended look, which soon shifted into embarrassment. "Nothing much beyond just working to improve my abilities in general. Maybe I should study more on poisons and antidotes, after what happened in my preliminary match."

"Wanting to learn from your mistakes, that's some intelligent thinking. I'm happy to see I taught you so well," Asuma-sensei said approvingly. "You might also want to make use of this time by training with your dad. Since we won't be going on any missions, this would be an excellent opportunity to further your work under him."

Ino's blue eyes gleamed in anticipation. It made sense, since she hadn't had much time to spend with her family recently. That desire to be around the people who lived with you and loved you unconditionally was something Naruto was finally starting to understand for himself. Having Asuka-chan there to greet him whenever he came home the past month was a wonderful feeling, like a thousand bowls of Ichiraku ramen all compressed into one single overwhelming burst of goodness. His mother too, even though she was in a coma, being able to talk to and see the woman who he had spent his childhood wishing for... It was something words could not express.

The jonin's voice drew him from his thoughts. "Naruto, you have a meeting scheduled with the Hokage at 10:30 to discuss your actions in the infirmary yesterday. Anything else will have to wait until after that." From his stern look and tone of voice, the blonde had an idea of what this meeting would be like. He already wasn't looking forward to it.

The tantalizing smell wafted up his nose from the steaming bowl before him, but for the first time in his memory, he just couldn't find it in himself to eat. He'd thought coming here to Ichiraku's and having their delicious ramen would cheer him up. So far, it wasn't working.

On either side of him, his teammates were looking at him in concern, even though they were just as dejected as he was. Chouji sighed, and pushed the bowl of noodles away.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered from his right. "Maybe I should've tried anyway." There was no need to ask what he was talking about. Not one of team eight's genin had made it t the finals. All three young ninjas were feeling down after their poor performance.

Hinata, the kind, caring girl she was, tried to console the Nara. "Sh-Shikamaru-kun, don't feel bad. Spending needless effort... just isn't your way."

The ramen chef and his daughter were not oblivious to their customers' states, and they had never been ones to turn a blind eye to unhappy people. "What's got you kids so down?" the older man inquired. "If you don't hurry up and eat, the food'll go cold."

The Akimichi gave him a small smile as thanks for the attempt to cheer them up. "Our whole team got taken out of the Chunin Exams yesterday, while most of our friends are still going on to the finals."

Ichiraku Teuchi gave him an understanding look. "So now you're feeling like they're all getting stronger and leaving you behind, am I right?"

"Something like that," the laziest member of the team sighed. "It's like they've blown so far past us that all our hard work the past six months has been for nothing. Especially Naruto; I mean I knew he was strong, but seeing him really fighting, not just a spar like we normally do..."

The father and daughter chuckled good-naturedly. "I've known Uzumaki Naruto most of his life, and if there's one thing I've learned about that rascal over the years, it's that trying to use him as a standard to base the rest of the world around will lead to nothing but confusion. That boy's just too different from other people. Instead of comparing yourselves to him and feeling all inadequate, you should go out there and focus on making yourselves better."

"Sure, it sounds fine when you say it like that, but reality isn't so easy," Shikamaru retorted.

"Reality can be whatever you make it to be," a new, familiar voice joined in, all three genin instantly turning to face the direction it came from to meet only with empty air. "I thought you had learned that by now."

"Kurenai-sensei!" Chouji called out in surprise as the woman slowly materialized before them.

His best friend sighed again. "Troublesome. How long have you been there, Sensei?" he asked, while glancing briefly at Hinata. The kunoichi gave a small shake of her head, signifying that she hadn't detected the jonin either.

"The whole time, of course. I wasn't about to give up on you three just because you didn't make chunin the first time around." Their sensei frowned in disappointment at their attitudes, "Teuchi-san is right. Don't worry about how you are compared to your former classmates; if you feel you're not strong enough, then train harder and make chunin next time, don't mope about it."

The lecture having perked him and the others up, Chouji was feeling hungry again. He turned back to the counter, ready to chow down on a bowl of delicious ramen... only to find it gone!

Before he had time to panic however, Ayame showed up carrying three new, hot bowls. "Consider these on the house," she said, placing one in front of each of the waiting genin. The Akimichi immediately began slurping down the yummy mixture of noodles and broth.

"Besides," she added, "you all are Naruto's friends. If he and the others really thought you were falling behind, they'd give you a hand along. Surely you know that much about him after all the time you've spent watching him, right Hinata?"

Chouji started laughing along with everyone else as the shy Hyuuga heiress blushed and stuttered, pressing her index fingers together nervously. "I- That is- I mean- Um- You- You won't tell will, you?" she pleaded to the Ichirakus.

The old ramen chef smiled at her. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Now that that's settled," Kurenai-sensei spoke up, "let's work up plans for training over the coming month. Even though you're all out of the exams, our team is still exempt from missions as something of a reward for making it through the second stage. That means a month to focus solely on improving your skills. How far we take this depends entirely on what you three are up to doing."

The pleasantly plump boy gave her his best resolute look, though the effect was probably thrown off by the noodles still hanging from his mouth. Both his teammates were right along with him. They _would not_ fall behind!

The woman smiled in satisfaction. "Good." Then her smile took on a slightly sadistic hint, and all three suddenly felt nervousness combined with excitement jittering down their spines. The next thirty days promised to be very interesting.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hatake Kakashi was sitting on the edge of the roof of some random building, looking up at Yondaime-sama's face on the Monument.

"Kakashi-sensei." The grey-haired jonin turned at the sound of his student's monotone voice.

Talking with Shino would at least provide some distraction from his current thoughts. "Hm?"

"Kakashi-sensei, I wish to learn kenjutsu." The man raised his one visible eyebrow. Well that was certainly an odd idea, an Aburame with a sword?

The boy was too straightforward. It looked like it would be up to him to draw this out, or else he'd be back to going over his failures in less than a minute. "Kenjutsu, huh? I could teach you, but..." He allowed a couple seconds' pause. It was cute the way the genin's mouth twitched ever-so-slightly in annoyance, especially since he himself was most likely unaware of the action.

"It's been a while since I've used a sword, so I'm a bit rusty." That was true. Kakashi hadn't even so much as touched a blade longer than six inches since he'd retired from ANBU five years ago. "You'd be better off learning from one or the kenjutsu specialists."

"I see. Thank you." The Aburame returned to his silent staring.

The jonin waited until the pause in conversation was on the verge of becoming awkward. "So... what's with the sudden interest, Shino?" Yesterday may have proven that he was a failure as a sensei, but he still cared about his students.

A brief pause to resettle his sunglasses on his nose, then the boy answered. "My first opponent in the upcoming finals appears to be primarily a long-range fighter. As such, my usual tactics will not work against her, since she will have ample time to avoid and deter pursuit from any swarms of kikaichu I might send after her. Additionally, my colony will not be able to effectively repel her weapons should she deduce the advantage she would gain by priming them with exploding tags. It is my belief that the use of a powerful close-range assault will catch her off-guard and allow me to emerge victorious."

Beneath his mask, Kakashi smiled briefly. As expected of his clan, an entirely logical, thought-out explanation that made perfect sense. "Hm. Well in that case, I'll see about getting someone to instruct you in the basics. Be at our usual team meeting place tomorrow around noon." In a way, it was a perfect situation. He'd been talking with Asuma last night, and the two had agreed that Hayate needed a short break from active duty. Teaching someone like Shino would be an excellent use of his time and skills.

His genin bowed. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. I will take my leave now."

"Sure, sure. Have a fun time." He waved his hand in a lazy goodbye, as the boy leapt away.

The man found himself alone again, once more letting his legs dangle over the edge of the roof. Truthfully, he didn't have any idea what he was going to do. What happened with Sasuke yesterday meant the end of the team. As soon as the exams were done, the last Uchiha would be placed on probation for his actions, and team ten would be permanently disbanded. Sakura had gone into a coma and was now in the Konoha General Hospital, room 303. The med-nins had no idea when or even if she would wake up.

And now he was obligated to _train _that boy, prepare him to fight Minato-sensei's son, when just looking at the arrogant little brat made him want to go off and cry in shame. How had he missed all the warning signs? Was he really so caught up in his past and his debt to Obito that it was compromising his judgment? Maybe he'd go to a bar and have a little sake, mellow out a bit before he started trying to think things through.

Sake would have to wait for the time being though, as the jonin picked up a familiar chakra signature heading in his direction. About thirty seconds later, Asuma was sitting down next to him. "Don't take it so hard, Kakashi. No one could've predicted he was going to snap like that."

"What do you want?" He didn't need comfort right now, especially false comfort. Whatever Hokage-sama's son was here for, he'd much rather skip the roundabout conversation leading up to it this time. He didn't deserve to have someone trying to cheer him up.

Before answering, the man took out a cigarette and his lighter, lit the stick, and took a long drag on it. "Ahh, that's refreshing. The boys can't stand the smell of these things, so I haven't had a good smoke in ages." He inhaled again and blew out another stream of smoke. "I need a favor. I need you to help train Kiba for his first match."

The grey-haired jonin's eyebrow raised in surprise. "You do realize he might be going up against my student in the second round, right?"

He nodded. "Of course, but Shino isn't likely to kill him."

"You've got a point there." Sighing, Kakashi thought it over for a bit before coming to a decision. "All right, I'll do it."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As he made his way across the rooftops of Konoha, Naruto grinned in relief. His meeting with the Hokage had gone much better than he'd anticipated. The only punishment the aged leader had given him for his assault on Kankuro was to work on emotional control as part of his month of training. If he didn't reach a "satisfactory level" within that month, he would be expelled from the exam without question, but the blonde had no doubt he'd succeed.

Now he was on his way to the hot springs, where Jiji had told him to go to meet his new sensei. The energetic ninja's thoughts were whirring constantly in anticipation of what this unknown person would be like, what kinds of super-tough training awaited him, and what sort of things he would learn. His mind conjured up an image of someone shrouded completely in black cloth, so that only their bright green eyes were visible, with every movement a display of incomprehensible power and grace. He pictured the mysterious instructor calmly watching as he had to fend off a hundred giant tigers, like the ones Ino and Kiba had told him about in the forest of death, no, twice as big! And hours later, as he stood, exhausted and bleeding, but victorious, on top of a mountain of beasts each larger than a horse, his teacher looked down at him in pride, before showing him how to shoot twin beams of energy from his eyes that traced along the ground, leaving devastation in their wake.

The boy's imagination quickly became so active that he lost his focus on the world around him. As his brain spawned countless scenarios, each more impossible than the last, he completely failed to notice the cement wall he was speeding towards. The collision instantly returned Naruto to his senses, his head throbbing in pain. "Owww..." he moaned as he pulled back out of the small hole he'd made. It was a good thing he had an extra-thick skull, or else he might've been seriously hurt.

Looking around as his vision cleared, the blonde saw that he was actually at the hot springs, but no sensei was there waiting for him. In fact, except for an old man with long white hair spying on the women's baths and giggling quietly to himself, the place was deserted. Wait... Spying on the women's baths?

"PERVERT!" Naruto shouted as he lunged for the lecher, intent on teaching him a thing or two about respecting others' privacy. What he totally wasn't expecting was for the man to spin around, almost too fast to see, hands covered in fingerless steel-mesh gauntlets, going through seals at a speed the genin couldn't hope to follow.

His mind slipping into battle mode just as the stranger's hand touched the ground, the young ninja was only barely fast enough to jump to the side as a huge, bumpy tongue shot out of the cloud of smoke from whatever jutsu the guy had just used. Before he even landed, he'd already formed the handseal for the kage bunshin. He wasn't able to execute the jutsu though, as one much larger hand clamped down around both of his.

The blonde followed the arm connected to said hand up to its owner: the white-haired pervert. "Damn brat! You interrupted my research!" the man scolded loudly.

"Research?" Naruto shouted back even louder, outraged. "You were peeking!"

"Exactly! It's research for my new book!" the large man roared, crouching down to get right in his face.

But he was a Konoha ninja and not so easily intimidated. "What kinda idiot would write a perverted book like that? Who the hell are you, anyway?" Even as he screamed right into the old geezer's face, the boy could feel his brain trying to tell him something. He ignored it for now, too irritated by the person in front of him.

Like throwing a switch, the pervert's demeanor changed in an instant. Suddenly, he was standing a few feet away, grinning widely as he went through an extremely silly-looking dance. "I am the the great Toad Sage of Myobokuzan... the famous author of dozens of bestseller novels... the one and only... Jiraiya-sama!"

Finally all the pieces clicked, including the toad he'd just realized was there. This guy was the Sannin Jiraya, his dad's sensei. Naruto had heard he was a pervert but hadn't been expecting this. One of the most powerful ninja in the world was holding out proudly in display Volumes 1-5 of The Complete Compendium of Icha Icha (Miniature Print Version), all autographed by himself.

Being the type to always speak his mind, the boy said the first words that came to his head. "Ero-sennin," he announced dismissively.

The man wilted at his words, as if someone had just snatched away his ramen. He looked so ridiculous that the blonde couldn't help but burst into laughter. Just as fast as his previous mood changes, Jiraya was suddenly indignant. "Hmph! See if I train you, acting like some kinda idiotic little kid! I'll have you know I'm not a pervert at all..." Here he paused, building up suspense for what he was about to say. "I'm a super-pervert!"

A super-pervert, he said, huh? Well, Naruto had the perfect technique for dealing with the likes of him. He smiled mischievously as he went through the three handseals.

"**Oiroke no Jutsu!"**

As the smoke cleared, the Sannin's eyes bugged out. He stayed frozen like that for a few seconds, a small bit of drool dribbling from his mouth, before a fountain of blood erupted from his nose with enough force to send the old lecher flying over the bamboo wall he'd been peeking through. The occasionally-reverting former prankster dispelled the henge and smiled in satisfaction as there was a loud shriek of "PERVERT!" followed by the sounds of a savage beating.

Nearly half a minute later, the white-haired old man came soaring back over the wall, heavily beaten yet still wearing a perverted grin. He landed face-up on the ground with a dull thud, either unconscious or faking it, the boy couldn't tell.

"Oi, wake up," Naruto called out, giving the Sannin a firm nudge to the gut with his foot. No response. "I know you're not dead, ya Ero-Sennin." Still nothing. The blonde tried a gentle kick. "Oi, you said you're supposed to train me, right?" More drool. If this guy was faking, he was doing a damn good job.

The young ninja sighed. "Whatever. I ain't got time to waste waiting for you to wake up." That said, he slung the large possibly-unconscious man over his left shoulder before heading off for the nearest training grounds.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jiraiya watched his soon-to-be student, unnoticed, as the boy was completely absorbed in the fairly grueling series of physical exercises he was going through.

Uzumaki Naruto, huh? This was his first opportunity to observe his godson in person, and just going on the last few minutes, he found himself in complete agreement with Sarutobi-sensei's assessment of the blonde. It was like someone had taken the most prominent aspects of Minato and Kushina, crammed them into one person, and amplified them.

The experienced ninja's thoughts went back to the conversation he'd had with the old Hokage early in the morning. The idea that the Kyuubi had _wanted_ to be sealed... If that were true, what kind of effect would it have on Akatsuki's plans? And the news of a previously unknown ninja village was troubling to say the least. He'd been spending too much time away from Konoha.

It was time to get down to business. "Oi, brat!" he called out to the boy, who was currently leaping about dodging a variety of projectiles hurled his way courtesy of a couple dozen kage bunshins.

"WAH!" the genin and all his clones exclaimed in surprise, temporarily distracted. This distraction cost him when a kunai embedded itself in his left thigh, two shuriken hit him in the stomach, five senbon embedded themselves into his back, and four pebbles pelted him along his right side. The boy frowned in displeasure. "What the hell d'you think you're doing, Ero-Sennin? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something right now?"

All the Narutos glared at him, as the original pulled the weapons out of himself. "What if one'a those hit something important, like my heart? Huh?" Jiraiya kept any hint of the amazement he was feeling from showing on his face; taking into consideration just how much force had been behind the weapons, an ordinary person would be on the ground in a heap with broken bones and severe internal injuries. The blonde's body was unnaturally tough.

"Well they didn't. Now get on over here so we can talk about your training," he commanded. His own clone should've been just about done setting up the barrier seals; it wouldn't do for Danzo's goons, or anyone else for that matter, to spy on them. Less than a second later, Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the ground right in front of him, clear blue eyes gleaming in anticipation, his whole body trembling in excitement.

Damn it, he should've seen that coming. It seemed the brat was a bit _too _much like his parents. Now the Sannin would have to disappoint him, then resist the irresistibly adorable pout that was sure to follow. "Settle down, we're not gonna start training just yet." Sure enough, the blonde pouted. "Before that," the white-haired man continued, "there's a few things I wanted to talk to you about."

Like flipping a switch, the boy's entire demeanor changed. Sapphire orbs held an intense seriousness to them that made him look almost identical to his father. Not prepared for such a sudden difference or the memories unexpectedly brought to the surface, Jiraya needed just over a tenth of a second to recompose himself. A subtle (to most) twitch of Naruto's eyes indicated that yes, he had picked up on the man's surprise.

Now it was time to get the most important stuff out of the way. "First, I want to know your reasons."

"My reasons?" the boy asked, needing clarification. "My reasons for what? For training? For being a ninja?"

"Yes. I'm not teaching you anything until I know why you want to learn." It wasn't that the Sannin didn't trust his former sensei, but he felt he needed to hear this from the boy's own mouth. That prophecy from decades ago still lingered in the back of his mind. If one of his students really would decide the fate of the world, well... Everyone he'd taught up till now was dead, so it was his duty as a sentient being to make absolutely sure any future pupils had the right mindset.

Picking up on the man's own seriousness, Naruto skipped over all the silliness he would no doubt normally put into answering such a question. "I want to be Hokage and protect everyone. To do that, I need strength. I'll become strong so I never have to lose another person I care about.

"And just as important, I need to be strong to hold back the Kyuubi. If that monster were to get loose..." The young ninja shuddered, his hands unconsciously moving down to clutch at his stomach, directly over the seal. He stayed quiet for a moment, but something told the white-haired man that he still had more to say.

"That's all long-term, though. Always on my mind, but not really what drives me from day-to-day. Right now, I want to train for more than just making chunin. My first opponent, Uchiha Sasuke, during the preliminaries yesterday he..." The blonde paused then, as though deciding how to word his thoughts, and Jiraiya saw his eyes flash momentarily in anger. "He was paired up with his teammate, Sakura, and he... _beat_ her. She's in a coma. Our whole time at the Academy, Sakura-chan had this huge crush on him, and she was just starting to really turn herself around, working to be a good kunoichi, and... And he acted like the whole thing didn't matter! Like she was _beneath_ him somehow, even though she was trying her hardest! It pisses me off!" The boy had leapt to his feet when he started shouting, his whole body quivering in rage.

Naruto stopped and took a few deep breaths, calming down from his brief outburst, but he stayed standing. "I spent a lot of last night thinking about the whole thing. As much as I'd like to, I know pounding his face in isn't gonna do anything. I may hate the bastard, but he's still a Konoha ninja, my comrade. It's my duty to help him and show him that that way of thinking is wrong, but Sasuke's not the type to listen to or accept others unless he recognizes their power. If I'm going to get through to him, I need to prove to him that I'm stronger. When we fight in a month, I've gotta win completely and decisively, leave no doubt in his mind that my victory is because I'm better than him. The way I am right now, I'd be able to beat him, but his ego's big enough that he'd write it off as luck or something.

"So that's my reasoning. Is it good enough for you, Jiraiya-sama?" Clear blue eyes looked up at him, patiently waiting for the Sannin's answer.

For the third time since meting this boy, the sage found himself momentarily speechless. That someone could have gone through everything this child had, what he was forced to suffer every single day, yet still be so... pure. It was unbelievable. If only... if only there were more people like him, like Naruto, maybe Nagato's dream of peace really could become a reality.

It was the most obvious choice Jiraiya had ever had to make. There were still more things he wanted to talk about of course, but those could wait. "All right, brat. Before we do anything else, I've gotta know what you're capable of. I already have a bit of an idea from reading your file, but there's things that can't be learned just by reading words on a page. So we're gonna spar." An excited glimmer appeared in the genin's eyes, and his body tensed, ready to begin at a moment's notice. "I want you to come at me with everything you've got. No holding back, no taking it easy. Attack me whenever you're ready."

Before he'd even finished the word "ready," the blonde was in motion; a spinning jump-kick aimed at his head with more than enough speed and power to snap a normal person's neck in two. The half-century old ninja casually used his right hand to grab the boy by his ankle, his left moving to deflect the follow-up knife thrust to the ribs.

He let his godson free himself by planting his remaining foot against his chest and pushing, the horizontal leap putting a bit under three yards between them. Even as he flew through the air, the orange-clad ninja's hands formed the seal for kage bunshin, and twenty replicas appeared in a shout and a burst of smoke.

The Sannin grinned, curious to see the extent of his new student's abilities.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ten hours.

It had taken _ten hours _of constant fighting before Naruto had finally worn himself out. The brat was laid out on his back on the grass, taking in greedy lungfuls of air; his stamina was just plain insane, jinchuuriki or not.

Jiraiya was feeling pretty tired himself, despite not having had to exert himself. That the blonde had fought actively and at full power for such a length of time was mind-boggling. The toad sage knew it was a feat he himself would never be capable of equaling without Ma and Pa's help.

Even putting aside the young shinobi's ridiculous stamina, he was still extraordinarily powerful and skilled for his age, and should he ever reach his full potential, he'd make even his own parents look like nothing more than genin in comparison.

"Oi, brat," he called out, the boy just barely mustering up the effort to raise his head and look at him. "Why don't you head on home, grab something to eat, then get to sleep? I want to see you in training ground forty two tomorrow at eight in the morning." It was the perfect setup. He could leave Naruto something to work on, then spend a couple hours watching the hot babes who liked to go swimming at the nearby waterfall.

Slowly, the blonde rolled over onto his stomach and made his way to a vertical position. "Yeah... ...sure thing... Ero... ...Sennin..."

Watching his godson stumble his way back towards Konoha proper, Jiraiya thought things over. The original plan to teach him the kuchiyose no jutsu right now was out, as getting to a level of proficiency to use the toads in combat effectively took at least a month and a month was all the time he had, with the focus being on improving the boy's overall combat abilities as much as possible.

The first priority would be to have him learn earth manipulation. Naruto's file had it listed as his secondary affinity, yet he still had no idea how to use it. Going over to the closest restoration seal, the Sannin let his chakra flow into it, looking on as all the damage slowly repaired itself.

Blue energy spread throughout the area, fixing the disturbed patches of ground and placing all the uprooted and scorched plantlife back in its former state. The brat's enormous chakra capacity had let him put excessive amounts of power into the variety of fuuton and occasional katon jutsus he'd thrown out, not to mention the impressive collaboration jutsu he'd pulled off with his clones. That thing had been intense enough to turn the boulder it had hit into a pile of molten slag; had the white-haired ninja not decided to kawarimi, it might very well have injured him. As it was, the sheer amount of devastation caused during the spar would take several hours to fix.

Truly, this seal was probably one of Minato's most useful, brilliant ideas. Placing an area in a static time bubble, sealing it in a pocket dimension, then creating an array to allow it to fuse with its real-world equivalent when chakra was applied was something that had probably saved Konoha billions in repair costs over the years, if not more. If only he'd found a way to speed the process up a bit...

Then again, the Sannin didn't actually have to be here in person, now did he? Taking a cue from his newest student, he made a shadow clone before heading off for his house. Naruto had been extremely inventive and resourceful in his use of that particular technique, using the clones for distractions, assisting his movements, setting up attacks, and countless plans.

Jiraiya just couldn't stop thinking about the kid. While testing him, he'd gone on the offensive a few times, not to actually hurt him but to see how he'd react. Surprisingly, not once did the blonde even let it slow him down. Every time dodging or deflecting a hit would've interfered with his own attack, he'd instead opted to take the damage and keep right on coming.

It was a stubbornness that reminded the sage much of himself at that age. He had to admit, he was really looking forward to training his godson during the coming month.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

Before anything else, I want to apologize for this chapter taking so long. I had some major problems with writer's block, especially during the later scenes. Originally, I had intended for this chapter to be longer, but this works as a break point, and I don't want to go too long between updates.

For the most part, this chapter is just setting up for the next part, showing what's going on with most of the genin. I also did my best to give brief glimpses into the characters' minds.

The first scene was enjoyable to write, as I'd missed the friendly bickering between Ino and Naruto these past several chapters, but I think my favorite part was with team eight at Ichiraku's. While the preliminaries gave a good opportunity to focus a bit more on the other rookies, this was my first time really showing any of them together as a team.

Jiraiya's introduction was also fun to do, as he always provides great opportunities for humor. Trying to write from his perspective however, was an interesting challenge. I see him as the kind of character who's always thinking about something or other, even if he rarely expresses those deeper thoughts, instead acting out all his perverted tendencies. His scene where he talks to Naruto about his goals was the part of the chapter that gave me the most trouble.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and the next one shouldn't take nearly as long to come out. It's already partially written in fact, since as mentioned above, it was supposed to be part of this chapter.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ABitterPill, Orion, ching965


	27. to learn and improve part 1

**chapter 27**

**to learn and improve (part 1)**

The eight kunai sailed through the air, swift and deadly, heading for their intended targets

_thunk/thunk/thunk/thunk/thunk/whump/whump/whump_

Damn it! Sasuke cursed in his head as he landed and opened his eyes, to see which ones had missed. Not only was he still failing to get this, he'd actually gotten _worse_! Why was it so impossible? _He_ had managed this same exercise at this age, with ease!

The first five weapons had all hit the targets, all but one a perfect bullseye, but the sixth had somehow missed, and the seventh and eighth were completely off again, all three digging into dirt instead of wood. Was this still the gap between him and Itachi?

Collecting his kunai, the last of the Uchiha prepared to try again when he picked up a familiar chakra signature. "Kakashi, does this mean we'll be training?" As much as he may hate to admit it, the black-haired youth knew he wouldn't have been able to detect the man had he not wanted to be noticed, which meant the jonin had some kind of business with him. After the way he'd been yesterday, it came as quite a surprise. The grey-haired man hadn't even been willing to look at him, let alone speak to him, since the preliminaries.

"The regular place, fifteen minutes," came the unusually terse reply, followed by the sound of him shunshining away.

Hmph. Sasuke would need to get going now if he wanted to make it there on time. Hopefully whatever the older ninja had planned would be worth it. Most of the time, it certainly wasn't, with that pink-haired waste of space holding him back from learning anything useful; there was one thing he wouldn't have to bother about anymore.

He certainly hadn't meant to put the girl in a coma, but did it really matter that much? Personally, the last Uchiha was relieved, as it was doubtful she'd be pestering him for dates once she woke up. That had been so annoying! 'Sasuke-kun, would you like to get something to eat?' 'Sasuke-kun, can you help me with this?' 'Sasuke-kun, do you want to come train with me?' It had just never stopped!

Caught up in anger, the young man pushed a bit too much chakra into his next leap and found himself overshooting his target by several feet. Frustrated at Sakura for causing him to make such a beginner mistake, he allowed a small scowl to form as he extended his arms to grab onto the next branch. With a quick burst of chakra to his muscles, he flipped himself smoothly up and over, continuing on his way uninterrupted.

The sight that greeted him on reaching the small bridge several minutes later did nothing to improve his mood. Kakashi was there, which would have been a surprise but for his stern attitude earlier, but so was, unmistakably, Inuzuka Kiba, his white-furred mutt poking out of his jacket.

"What's he doing here?" the Uchiha asked unceremoniously, giving voice to his thoughts.

His former classmate growled threateningly. Too bad for him he didn't have the bite to back up his bark.

The grey-haired jonin stepped in before the hot-tempered idiot started something he couldn't finish. "Kiba is here as my student, Sasuke, as are you."

"Your student?" he countered, "Why? He's not on the team."

"No, but some of what he wishes to learn are things I am more qualified to teach than his sensei, so he has been passed off to me, just as I have passed Shino off to another," the man drawled out in his usual lazy tone.

"And how do you know he's not just using that as an excuse to spy on me for his team" the last Uchiha shot back.

Before Kakashi had a chance to say anything, the dog-boy butted in. "Heh. Naruto's not the kinda guy who'd be willing to use something like that to his advantage, even if I did offer. When he kicks your ass, he's gonna do it fair and square."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "As if an idiot like that could even stand up to me."

The Inuzuka just smirked uncharacteristically.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. Let's get to training." He was unwilling to waste any more time on pointless chatter.

Looking down at him, the jonin gave one of his eye-smiles. "That's the first good idea you've had all day, Sasuke. Follow me, you two." The boy scowled at the insult, but leapt after him anyway.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto crept up silently, using every ounce of stealth he possessed to sneak up on the unaware target. Chakra muffled his footsteps as he got closer and closer...

"GOOD MORNING ERO-SE-mmf!" A large hand clamped over his mouth, smothering the rest of the greeting. He was also over a foot off the ground, supported by an arm wrapping around his middle from behind. Damn it.

"Do you have to interrupt my research right at the very best moments, brat?" the old pervert whined.

Wanting out of the uncomfortable situation, the blonde's first instinct was to bite the hand, but the angle and several other factors made that not feasible in this case. So he moved on to option two.

"Blech!" Jiraya exclaimed, quickly dropping the squirming boy. "Did you just... Did you just _lick_ me?"

The genin spat on the ground, to get rid of the disgusting taste of old-man-fingers-and-metal. "It's what you get for covering my mouth like that!" he shouted indignantly. "When was the last time you washed your hands? Or those gauntlets?"

As the Sannin rubbed his right hand dry on a nearby tree, his left tapped his head in thought. "Hmm.. About a week ago, two months for my gauntlets."

Naruto spat several more times, before deciding that was enough of that. He wanted to train!

""So, so, what're we gonna do first?" the blonde asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation.

"_You_," the sage said, placing his hands firmly on the boy's shoulders to settle him, "are going to sit down and listen for now. There's some things I need to go over before we begin."

Right; sit down and listen. It was boring, but he could do it if he had to.

The experienced ninja gave an approving nod after the genin walked over to a nearby stream and made himself comfortable on the rocks. "Before we go any further," he started, settling down across from the boy, "you need to understand that the training I'll be putting you through will be tougher than any you've done 'til now.

"There's a lot of stuff I want you to learn and not a lot of time to learn it in before the finals. I'll be forcing you to your limits and beyond, working on every aspect of your ninja abilities. If you don't put forth your full effort, you might very well end up dead. You will most likely end up hating me at times, but everything I have you do will make you stronger. On the last day, I will give you a test, which you must pass."

Here Naruto interrupted. "Yeah, Jiji told me about that. To be sure I can control my emotions, right?"

"No," the Sannin shook his head. "There'll be that too, of course, but this is my own test."

Now he was curious. "What sort of test? And what'll happen if I fail?"

"You'll find out when the time comes," Jiraya answered seriously. "Now, if you're good with all that, tell me, and we'll get to training."

"Bring it, Ero-sennin!" the boy shouted, leaping to his feet, ready to take on whatever his newest sensei would throw at him.

Giving him an approving grin, the famous ninja stood, albeit much more slowly. "Well, you're definitely spirited enough. To get started, did you know that I am considered to be one of the best users of doton ninjutsu in Konoha's history, just behind Sarutobi-sensei?"

Naruto quickly went over everything he'd read about the Sannin as they walked back into the trees, only to come up blank. "No, I didn't. Guess they wanna keep stuff like that out of books where pretty much anyone could learn it... Wait, does this mean you'll be teaching me doton jutsus?" Finally! It had been _months_ since he'd learned of his secondary affinity, and all that time, the blonde had felt cheated, having no one to teach him. Now he had one of the best! Awesome!

"Heh. Right on both counts. It seems you're not as stupid as you look, eh brat?"

"Yeah, than- Wait a minute, you perverted old bastard!" As Jiraya chuckled, his prankster side made a silent vow to get back at him. But later; training came first. For now, he'd have to settle for a simple pout.

"Anyway," the man went on, as though nothing had happened, "the most basic exercise for earth manipulation is pretty simple. You push your chakra into the ground around you, then use it to pull up a small mound." He demonstrated as he spoke, a little bump a couple inches high rising up right in front of him. Something about the whole concept seemed familiar to Naruto, but what...? Ah, of course!

Twenty-nine ideas swiftly took shape in his mind. Twenty-two of them wouldn't work, four of the remainder were too boring, and two of the three left over took too much time. That left him with one. "Heh, that looks easy! I'll have it down by lunchtime!" he bragged.

The pervert gave him a scrutinizing look. "You will, will you?"

Blue eyes met black, challenging them. "Definitely, Ero-sennin!"

"Wanna bet on it? You get the hang of it by noon, I pay for your meal; you don't, no more calling me Ero-Sennin." Wow. He hadn't expected it to be _that_ easy! Adults were way too predictable sometimes.

Expressing his glee as excitement and determination, the blonde leapt to a more open area with a shout. "Now there's some motivation!" Saliva filled his mouth at the thought of the impending ramen feast.

Letting a little chakra flow into the earth, like he'd learned in Mokugakure, Naruto pulled on the energy, drawing it together and back up to the surface.

Nothing happened.

"Damnit!" Okay, so this wouldn't be so easy after all. He could handle that; he'd gotten through _much_ harder things than making a tiny pile of dirt, after all.

Still, the genin would switch to his backup plan, just to be sure.

With a yell of "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" nearly a thousand Narutos appeared, immediately getting to work.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As he neared the location Kakashi-sensei gave to him eighteen hours, thirty-seven minutes ago, Shino was alerted by his kikaichuu to the presence of a single person, a jounin and most likely the one selected to be his kenjutsu instructor. Coming into visual range, he identified the individual as Gekko Hayate, the examiner from the preliminaries two days ago.

Upon reaching the appropriate distance, the boy gave a socially acceptable greeting. "Good morning, Hayate-san. I take it you are here to be my sensei?"

"Eh, figures. One of the only ones I didn't get to see fight the other day. But you're right: I am here to instruct you in kenjutsu," the man said, his distinctive coughing interspersed throughout the reply.

"Thank you for teaching me, Hayate-sensei. Please tell me how to begin." The Aburame was required to wait several seconds for an answer, as the sickly jonin erupted in a coughing fit.

Once he had settled down, Hayate-sensei gave him his first command, along with four more coughs and some extraneous information. "It's a good use of my time, since I've been put on mandatory leave. No more patrols for the time being. Anyway, as I didn't see you fight, I'll need to find out what you're capable of. Come at me with everything you've got."

Shino easily concluded that the man's final statement was not meant literally. The only time a member of his clan brought out his or her entire hive was for a suicide attack. What many people did not not realize was that the relationship between Aburame and kikaichuu was a mutual symbiotic one on an entirely biological level, not as simple as giving the insects a home in exchange for their aid in a variety of situations. Contrary to common belief, chakra alone was not enough for the hive's survival; a certain genetic quirk of his clan meant that their bodies produced a substance that acted as a nutrient for the insects but was toxic to humans. Without the kikaichuu to absorb it, the substance would build to fatal levels within an hour. Some strains of the insects were actually capable of storing it up and using it as a potent poison in combat.

Putting all such thoughts aside, the genin turned his attention to his current task: demonstrating his capabilities to his new sensei. It was an exhausting process that took nearly an hour, leaving the boy gasping for breath by the time he finished; his clan was not known for stamina, a side effect of having a large portion of one's chakra taken up by the kikaichuu. Throughout the entire time, he was not once able to hit Hayate-sensei, nor could he land a significant number of insects on him.

"Pretty good. I can see why you were entered into the exam," the jonin said, managing to speak without coughing for the first time in Shino's knowledge of him.

Sensing that a reply of some sort was expected, the boy gave a simple "Thank you."

The swordsman's eyes trailed up and down his body, scrutinizing him. "I'm curious. You knew you were coming here for kenjutsu training, so why didn't you bring a sword?"

"I felt it was unnecessary. I recently discovered that I have the rare ability to cause my kikaichuu to harden through the use of chakra," Shino stated. "It is not a well-documented phenomenon, but I concluded that learning kenjutsu would be the most effective use of my newfound capabilities."

"Interesting. Show me."

The Aburame was not sure whether the man had meant his words as a request or an order, but it was sensible either way, so he acquiesced. A mental command had a small portion of his hive work together to form the shape of a standard katana, the hilt in his right hand. Sending a chakra flow through his companions caused the shape to solidify.

Faster than his senses could track, Hayate-sensei drew his own blade and struck against the newly-formed weapon, producing a sound similar to the steel-on-steel of clashing kunai. The force behind the strike caused the genin to stumble backwards, vibrations running up and down his arm. Giving a nod, presumably of satisfaction, the man returned to a casual stance. "That certainly seems like a handy ability, Shino-kun, but wouldn't it be more useful for defensive purposes?" he asked, pausing occasionally to cough.

The boy gave a negatory shake of his head. "The structure is rigid and requires over one second to solidify, as well as constant skin contact to maintain. Forming any sort of protective barrier during combat would be infeasible, even before taking into account that the chakra-to-surface-area ratio rises exponentially. I am not capable of forming anything significantly larger than this blade without exhausting myself in the process."

"Okay, that's good to know. If at all possible, you'll want to find a way to cut down on that time; it takes far less than a second to draw a sword." The jonin's point was solid; he made a note to look into the topic. Hayate-sensei's posture shifted as he entered what the Aburame recognized as the 'lecture mode' that he suspected was shared by all competent instructors. "When it comes to kenjutsu, there are two major branches of styles. The first focuses primarily on speed, to get through gaps in the enemy's guard and cut them. The second prioritizes strength, to bash through their defenses and strike a killing blow. To take advantage of the light weight of your weapon, not only made out of insects, but hollow as well, I will be instructing you in a style from the first branch...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Naruto grinned in delight before diving enthusiastically into his forty second bowl of Ichiraku ramen. With the old pervert paying, he was gonna make the most of this opportunity. It had been a few months now since he'd been able to get someone to pay for his ramen, his teammates and friends quickly learning just how damaging it could be to their pocketbooks. Luckily, Ero-sennin hadn't known he was quite literally capable of eating a horse with room left over for more, if he really wanted to.

Not that the blonde ate that much regularly. While he'd never had to worry about the stomach problems most people faced after overeating, it always gave him a huge excess of energy afterwards, to the point where he simply _couldn't_ concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds 'til he'd burned some of it off. Not a good state to be in under most circumstances.

By the way the white-haired legend had been staring at the ever-growing stacks of ramen bowls, it was safe to say this would probably be the only time he treated him. A couple minutes ago, at bowl thirty nine, he'd gotten up and taken Teuchi-ojisan into the back to talk about something and had yet to return. And as curious as Naruto was to overhear the conversation, since listening to Ero-Sennin no doubt trying to bargain his way out of paying would've been hilarious, the clever old ninja had had the sense to put up some kind of barrier that blocked out not only sound, but scents as well.

Now it was just him and Ayame-neechan, the girl ready to bring a new bowl of delicious ramen from the pot whenever he finished the one he was working on. "So, Naruto," she asked, "who's that soon-to-be-poor man you dragged in with you?"

"Oh, y'mean Ero-sennin? He's my new sensei!" the genin told her excitedly. "He's a really awesome ninja, and I'm gonna be learning a ton of new stuff, even if he is a huge pervert..." he trailed off in a grumble.

The usually polite girl's voice took on a menacing tone. "A pervert you say?"

"Yeah, I met him at the hot springs, peeking on girls," Naruto answered in a low growl.

"Oh really? In that case, I think I'll have a few choice words with him once he finishes talking to Dad." The waitress was brandishing her ladle threateningly as she spoke, righteous anger coming off her in waves. Damn, were all women this scary, or just all the ones he knew?

Just then, the two older males came out of the back. He was distracted from watching Ayame-neechan taking her rightful vengeance, however, when Teuchi-ojisan came up and snatched away his ramen bowl.

"What the hell?" the blonde exclaimed, glaring in unrestrained fury at the man who had deprived him of his heavenly meal, before remembering that this was the same person who had supplied said meal; anger towards him would be bad for his future ramen needs.

"Sorry, but with Jiraya-sama's help, I'm cooking up a new special dish. Now, I know better than anyone just how much you can eat, but you should leave some room just in case. The Uzumaki Deluxe Bowl will be like nothing you've ever tasted." The words took a few moments to process, as he was still disoriented from the sudden loss of ramen.

Once they did, his mind ground to a sudden halt. Teuchi-ojsan... was making an entirely new kind of ramen... just for him? It wasn't just the idea of someone else doing something something for him, no, he'd gotten used to that in the six months since he'd met his team, but this was the first time anyone had ever gone to the trouble of actually _creating _something specially for Naruto. It was... It filled him with a sense of... pride, unlike anything he could remember.

Before he even knew what he was doing, the boy had leapt up onto the counter, sweeping the old chef up in a huge bear hug, tight enough to express the depth of his feelings but instinctively not so tight as to accidentally hurt the man, shouting "Thankyou!" over and over again.

"You...you're welcome..." the man he thought of as an uncle eventually managed to gasp out. "Now... could you... please... put me down?" Naruto looked at him in confusion for a couple seconds, before realizing that, with how he was standing on the bar, the expert chef was currently dangling a few feet off the ground.

"Hehe... sorry." The blonde gave a sheepish grin, realizing just how embarrassing it must have been for Teuchi-ojisan, before carefully lowering him back to the floor, then returning to sitting on his own stool. The bowl of ramen the man had taken before the hug, he noticed, had been saved from a messy end on the floor by Ero-sennin, who was now sporting two distinctive ladle-shaped bumps on his head.

As the ramen chef returned to the back room, the white-haired ninja retook his seat next to his new student. "That was a clever trick you pulled earlier with your shadow clones, brat. Using them to speed up your training like that."

Naruto's right hand immediately went up to scratch his neck in embarrassment at the sudden compliment. "Thanks, Ero-sennin. I've been using it ever since I figured out I got their memories. Really cuts down on the training time, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, so I noticed." the man grumbled. "Don't do it again."

"WHAT!" he shouted, outraged, blue eyes snapping up in a glare. "Why the hell not?"

"Because kage bunshin is a kinjutsu, you idiot! Who knows what kind of damage you might do to yourself slinging it around like cheap kunai!" the Sannin shouted back. He was... concerned for him?

The shock of a man he barely knew expressing worry for his well-being instantly drained away Naruto's anger, leaving confusion in its wake. "I thought it was forbidden cause of the way it splits your chakra, and that's not really a problem for me. Hell, I can make a few hundred of the things and barely even feel it."

Jiraya sighed. "I'm not even gonna bother trying to figure out how you can do the jutsu without actually knowing what it is you're really doing, probably just give me a headache. But it's a kinjutsu for a lot more than just the chakra; whenever you make a kage bunshin, you're actually breaking off tiny fragments of your soul and mind, and stuffing them both into a chakra constrct. When the construct's destroyed, the fragments reattach, bringing back the experiences along with them. Thing is, the soul and mind just aren't meant to be broken apart and put back together like that. You keep using it like that, and you'll end up insane."

The blonde waited for him to continue, but realized after several seconds of silence that the man was done. "That's it? Then there's nothing to worry about; I'm already insane." The pervert's eyebrows rose slightly, their owner clearly not believing him. Naruto grinned brightly. "Really. My sensei had me tested." He kept up his grin over a few more seconds.

"Okay, maybe you are," the white haired man relented, "but that's not the only danger. I've known ninjas who used shadow clones so much that they'd become unsure if their body was real or not and ended up killing themselves, thinking they were clones."

Ha, he'd have to try harder than that! "And did any of those people have overgrown furballs pounding away nonstop at the inside of their heads? I can keep the real me straight no problem."

"Gah! You're impossible brat! You know that?" the sage exclaimed in frustration.

Naruto widened his grin. "Yep!" he called out cheerily, remembering seven other people who had told him the same thing.

The Sannin slumped over in defeat. "Fine, make clones to your heart's content. Just keep in mind what I told you, all right."

"Sure thing!" the blonde agreed. Then a question struck him. "Say Ero-sennin, since you know so much about the kage bunshin, why is it that I can make so many? I mean, if I make a thousand, it should be splitting my chakra a thousand ways, but it never feels like that. Sure I lose whatever I used to make the clones, but then it comes right back and it's like I didn't use any energy at all. If I really am splitting my chakra a thousand ways, why isn't each me be a thousand times weaker?"

"For most ninja, that is an issue, but I guess your chakra reserves are simply so much larger than your capacity that it's not noticeable," the man answered, leaving him with nothing but confusion.

The young ninja felt like he was back in the first two years of the Academy, before he was transferred to Iruka-sensei's class. It just didn't make sense; weren't reserves and capacity just two different words for the same thing? He had to forcibly remind himself that Ero-sennin was _not_ one of the teachers from back then, and he _would_ clarify things.

It still didn't make the feeling of not knowing what the man seemed to expect to be basic knowledge any less uncomfortable. "So... um... what's the difference between chakra capacity and reserves?"

Whatever thoughts the sage might have had about the hole in his knowledge, he hid them so well Naruto wasn't able to catch even a glimpse on his face. "Chakra capacity is an estimate of how much chakra your body can safely have running through it at any time. Chakra reserves is the total amount of chakra available to you, including unmolded chakra. Any chakra you use can be replenished quickly, as long as you have more in your reserves.

"Most ninjas have reserves around two to five times as large as their capacity. In your case, your capacity is around the level of an elite jonin, like Kakashi or Asuma, extraordinary considering how young you are but still not much when compared to most S-rank ninjas. Your reserves, on the other hand, are so large that the normal standards of measurement are useless. Out of the millions of ninjas who've lived throughout the years, less than a hundred have been recorded with reserves like that, none of them younger than twenty."

"Seriously?" the energetic blonde asked, wide-eyed. "Awesome! You hear that, Ayame-nechan? One of less than a hundred ninja! Ever! Hokage, here I come!" As he'd hoped, the serving girl laughed at his antics.

The pervert, by contrast, bonked him on the head. "Insolent brat. You're still nowhere near strong enough to be ready to wear the hat."

"I know that! It's just exciting to think that I'm that much closer to my dream. No need to be so harsh about it," the boy grumbled.

"I'm just trying to keep you from getting too much of a swelled head."

"Ero-sennin," Naruto said, giving him a serious look, "I know my own limits. I may not act like it most of the time, but I know what I am and am not capable of."

Black eyes looked at him searchingly for a few seconds, before the white-hired man nodded in satisfaction. "Back to your original question, each individual clone doesn't actually take much chakra to create, relatively speaking. They're then filled up with chakra drawn from the user's reserves, until those run out, after which it's drawn from his or her body, so that the clones and the original all have equal chakra levels. If it weren't for both this and the difficulty of breaking apart the mind and soul, most jonin would be able to form a couple hundred clones. You've got reserves large enough that the shadow clones can draw all they need from there without even denting it, and I suspect your harsh childhood is what makes the second part so easy for you."

The memories came up in a sudden flood, memories of loneliness, starvation, pain, night after night of crying himself to sleep... The boy forced them away quickly.

Not being one for silences, especially after where his mind had just gone, he blurted out the first thing that came to his head. "Hey, while we're waiting, why don't you start teaching me fuuinjutsu?"

"Now?" the Sanin asked incredulously, "No way, brat."

So just asking wouldn't work, huh? Then how about asking nicely? "Pleeeeeaseeee?" He gave the man his best puppy-dog eyes.

"No."

Okay then, how about temptation? "When we're done for the day, I'll show you my harem no jutsu." As much as he felt sickened by offering to satisfy the pervert, it was worth it this time.

"Deal!" Jiraya shouted instantly, looking at him excitedly, his nose already dribbling blood at the mere thought.

Naruto mentally sighed in relief. If that hadn't worked, the next step was resorting to threatening, and if that hadn't worked, he would've had to go through with the threat. Something he'd rather not do, as experience had taught him that pouring itching powder (or anything along those lines) on the person in charge of his training tended to have excruciatingly painful results.

Both males were then treated to the pain of metal connecting with their skulls. The blonde immediately apologized to Ayame-nechan, while Ero-sennin giggled. He decided he'd rather _not_ know what that was about.

And so the next twenty minutes or so were spent with the young genin listening attentively and asking questions as the world's top living seal master started to reach him about the different types of seals, their uses and design.

That ended abruptly when his full attention was drawn to the divine smell wafting from the now open kitchen door. It was so powerful that he could practically _taste _it, and he could feel his mouth watering in anticipation. Then Teuchi-ojisan walked out with a steaming bowl so large he had to wrap both arms around it to carry it, and the smell intensified tenfold.

The blonde could do nothing but stare, wide-eyed, as the master chef slowly made his way up to the bar. his entire being focused on the overpowering scent drifting to his nose. He knew in an instant that this was no ordinary ramen in the giant bowl. No, this was something beyond even the best food in the world. This was Ramen.

With a dull thud, the bowl of Ramen was placed before him, his ears barely registering the words of the Food's creator: "One Uzumaki Naruto special."

Looking into the bowl, he saw that it had everything. Beef, chicken, all the different spices... Every ingredient used in all the different flavors of Ichiraku ramen floating in a sea of miso, spread out and proportioned perfectly.

Hands trembling, he reached out slowly with his chopsticks, picking up several noodles. Leaning over the bowl so that the drips of soup would fall back inside and not be spilled wastefully on the counter, Naruto reverently brought the noodles closer to his mouth. Then he placed them inside.

An explosion of flavors, overwhelming all conscious thought. As the soup came in contact with his tongue, he could taste _all_ of it, every particle of deliciousness from all the different foods in the bowl, they had spread throughout the soup and mixed together in a blend that was beyond anything mere words could describe. "Mmmmmmmmmmmm... Soooooooooo goooooooooooood..." he moaned in pleasure, chopsticks going down to bring more Ramen.

Time lost all meaning as sheer taste flowed through his body. He could have been eating for days without knowing it, but eventually Naruto found himself holding up the giant, now empty bowl, tilted to drain the final drops of soup into his lips.

He felt... strange. Like he didn't want to eat anymore. Was this what it was like to be... full?

Looking around slowly, the boy could see the other three people there, all staring at him with wide eyes.

"Whoa..." he sighed in awe as he gently put down the bowl. "That was... amazing." The word wasn't near enough to express what he was feeling, but it was all he could manage in his current state.

"So brat," the man next to him spoke up, snapping him fully out of his daze, "now that you're back with us, let's make a deal."

"What kinda deal, Ero-sennin?" the young ninja asked curiously.

"It's simple: you give me everything you've got when training, a hundred and fifty percent effort on everything I have you do for a whole week, and you get another one of those. Slack off, and no ramen at all the next week." He barely even heard the last part.

Inside his mind, Naruto was laughing in delight. He'd be able to get more Ramen each week for doing exactly what he would've done in the first place? Sweet! "Woohoo! Talk about motivation! You're on Ero-sennin!" he shouted, hopping up to stand on his stool in excitement, "Now hurry up and pay so we can get started!" He could already feel the excess energy from all that food building up, the need to run, jump, do _something_ to let it out causing his body to start trembling slightly. He turned to the Ichirakus, not about to forget what little manners he knew towards people so important to him, "Thank you for the meal."

"You're welcome," Teuchi-ojisan called back, as Ayame-neechan grinned and nodded next to him. Then the old chef turned to the other adult male, hand extended. "That'll be eighteen ryo, 1500 yen." For a brief moment, he could have sworn there were money signs on the man's eyeballs, as Jiraya's mouth dropped open.

With a sigh, his new sensei forked over the money, and the two left the ramen stand. "So, back to training ground forty two, right?" he asked, repeatedly hopping up in front of the man's face as they made their way slowly down the street, the blonde facing backwards. Not that he was actually willing to wait for confirmation. He needed to _move_.

Sinking down into a sprinter's crouch in the direction of the training grounds, Naruto held the position for a fraction of a second, before pushing off and adding a small burst of chakra from the ball of his foot to instantly shoot up to top speed. Then, starting from his still-lowered position, he leapt, as high and fast as he could, Not even a quarter second later, he was above the rooftops, shouting in delight as the wind whipped past him, and constantly flipping and twisting his body into whatever positions he felt like. It was exhilarating.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

Ugh. I'm so sorry this took such a long time. In fact, this isn't even the complete chapter, but it's been three months, so I decided something was better than nothing. I think I've learned my lesson not to make statements about when the next chapter will be ready.

As for why this took so long, it's really a combination of factors. First, in my life, I had the end of the semester, summer classes, helping my brother get ready to sell his house, and said brother being in a vehicle accident right in the middle of all this. In terms of writing, this chapter also gave me a lot of trouble, as I find both Sasuke and Shino hard to write, the whole thing is pretty dull overall, and there's a lot of concepts that need explaining. Some of that I've now put off for the second half of the chapter, but anticipating it was still helping to slow down my writing.

Like I said above, Sasuke is very hard for me to write. Despite appearances, I'm not actually trying to bash him. I just see him as just being a severely troubled adolescent, thanks to Itachi mindraping him as a child. He's so full of pent-up anger and rage that it seeps out in whatever ways it can, mostly by making him detest the people around him.

Shino also have trouble with, but for completely different reasons. It's hard to give him the right balance, where he's thoroughly grounded in logic, but still has enough emotion to be considered human. I hope you all like the new ability I gave him. It's not something I've ever seen someone do with Shino before, so I thought it would be interesting.

With Naruto, I tried here to give a bit of a glimpse into how his mind works. Despite him being the main character, it often feels like we don't know much about him other than facts: who he is, what his personality is like, etc. I attempted to get away from that here, showing how he's constantly doing things, his mind running nonstop, emphasizing just how deep his obsession with ramen is, pointing out how natural it feels for him to change moods so quickly even though it unsettles everyone around him.

Like I said, this chapter isn't really complete. It was meant to go most of the way through the month break, showing at least a bit of almost all of the Konoha genin as they train, whether for the exams or for personal reasons. That's why I titled it as I did. As such, I knew this was going to be a long chapter, but I underestimated just how long and just how much trouble I would have writing it. Again, I want to apologize for the amount of time this is taking.

A note about currency: 1 yen is approximately 1 cent, and 1 ryo is 10,000 yen, so Naruto's meal was about $1815.

One final note is that I'm going to be changing the story title when I post the second half of this chapter. The current title, "Naruto: Another Version," isn't one I've ever particularly liked, but it was the only thing I could think of at the time that expressed what I was trying to say, namely, that this is the story of Naruto, but a _different_ story of Naruto from the one we all know. I will take suggestions for new titles, as I'm horrible at coming up with them myself, but I'd like to keep the same meaning (unless someone gives me something outstandingly brilliant and eye-catching), and nothing involving roads or paths, as there are far too many stories with titles along those lines. You can PM me your suggestions or put them in a review; it's your choice.

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beta readers: ching965, Orion, ABitterPill


	28. to learn and improve part 2

**chapter 28**

**to learn and improve (part 2)**

Just a little bit more. He was so close; after two days of failed attempts, his goal was only seconds away. He could feel the tension build throughout his body, the anticipation mounting as all his effort was finally about to pay off...

"YEAH! I DID IT!"

The unexpected shout made him jump in surprise, and by the time he managed to refocus his telescope on the right spot, the moment had passed. The girl's luscious breasts were already hidden by the water.

"Damn you, brat!" the super-pervert exclaimed as he sprang to his feet and spun around, "I'm trying to do important research over here!"

His apprentice didn't seem to think that warranted a verbal response, instead just shooting him an annoyed glare. He felt sorry for the kid, still too young to appreciate the wonders of the female form.

On the other hand, the blonde most certainly knew what an attractive woman looked like. Hehehe... And with his own looks, all he needed was a growth spurt, and the girls would be flocking to him left and right, providing the author with plenty of raw material to use.

A pebble bounced off Jiraiya's forehead, bringing him firmly back to reality. His well-honed mind took in the sight before him in an instant. Most notable was the new ten-foot-tall rock spire, still brimming with his student's chakra. Heh, the brat really had pulled it off. "Good work," he announced, "looks like you're ready to learn your first jutsu."

"Cool! What's it gonna be? Will I learn how t'make big cages of stone, that get smaller and smaller 'til they crush whatever's inside? Or maybe a big, thick wall that springs up outta the ground? That would have all kinds'a uses! Or... Oh! I know! What about a technique for some sort of localized earthquake? That'd be sooo awesome, 'cause I could just be, like 'Bam!' and then..." The energetic boy danced in excitement as he listed off increasingly ridiculous possibilities, twisting his body into positions and pulling off moves that would be beyond impossible for an ordinary person.

Well, it certainly looked like he'd taken the advice yesterday about multitasking to heart. Considering the limited amount of time until the finals, doing more than one thing at a time would lead to better end results. And the blonde's constant movement, in addition to letting him express his feelings, also worked on balance, precision, flexibility, agility, and strength. Jiraiya had even felt him feed a sizable amount of chakra into the seals on the bracers around his wrists and ankles, meaning the kid was actually pushing his body pretty close to its limits with what most ninja would see as childish self-amusement.

The sage let him go on in this fashion for about five minutes but figured it was time to cut him off when he started on about having a smaller duplicate of Sarutobi-sensei's face on the mountain rising out of the ground and rushing at opponents.

"Right, that's enough." Naruto froze on the spot, in a rather awkward position where he was balanced on his head, his right leg extended straight up, and his left bent forward with the toes just brushing the tips of several blades of grass, arms out to the sides and back. He held the pose for a few seconds as he restored his weight seals to their regular levels, then, in a move no ordinary shinobi could've pulled off without a good bit of chakra enhancement, launched himself a foot in the air using only his neck muscles and flipped over to land in a crouch.

Making a mental note to see about working with the brat on incorporating similar unexpected movements into Minato's taijutsu sometime a few years down the line, the Sannin decided it was time he actually got around to teaching the ninjutsu his apprentice had been impatiently anticipating.

"Okay, listen up. The jutsu I'm gonna teach you now is called the Iwa no Yoroi (rock armor)." He saw a flash of recognition pass through the genin's eyes. Apparently he'd seen it before. "You bring your chakra up from the ground to surround your body, using it to form a solid layer of rock. It's a jutsu we stole from Iwagakure back during the third ninja war. They used it solely for defensive purposes, and while that is its primary use, I've discovered a way to use it in more of a supplementary fashion.

"Someone good enough and with enough physical strength and stamina doesn't need to stand still but can actually move the rock along with their body, letting them hit harder in addition to providing the same complete defense against common thrown weapons and weak to moderate physical attacks, at the cost of reduced speed. As you can probably guess, I'll be teaching you this aspect of it once you have the basic technique down. The handseals are boar, sheep, and snake. Now watch."

Jiraiya made sure to go through the motions slowly, so that Naruto could catch the whole process Starting at his feet, the chakra-controlled rock climbed up his body, stopping at his neck. He left his face uncovered so as to not muffle his voice, or on the off-chance that a hot babe passed by and fell in love with his good looks.

His student walked up and began tapping the rock with his knuckles in various places, feeling its hardness. Then he spun swiftly and delivered a full-force mule kick straight to the man's groin, to no effect. The boy somehow managed to pout in disappointment and look completely delighted at the same time, while also massaging his heel. "Cool!"

"Wait 'till you see the next part," the Sannin told him, grinning as he walked over to a nearby tree while decomposing the armor around his right arm. He then threw a slow, weak punch at the trunk, putting no chakra into it. A few flakes of bark flew off. Reforming the armor, he punched again at the same speed, again no chakra. This time, the wood simply couldn't provide enough resistance, and his arm extended fully, his forearm embedded halfway into the tree.

Turning to look at the young ninja, he saw the boy's mouth stretched in a wide, excited grin, blue eyes positively shining in delight and anticipation. "Now," the man instructed as he deactivated the jutsu, "make a bunch of clones and have them get to work on forming and deconstructing the armor until they can do it fast enough for use in combat."

"Huh? What'm I gonna do?" the blonde asked, clearly having expected to work on the jutsu himself.

But Jiraiya had other plans in mind for him, specifically a way to get back at the brat for two days ago, when he'd gone super-ADHD-caffeinated-squirrel-on-a-sugar-high hyper, leaving the man with a headache worse than the one he'd had after that night in Tea Country, when he'd woken up chained naked to one of the load-bearing beams of the motel he'd been staying at. "First, you and I are gonna head over to the front gate, then you're going to run five laps around Konoha before ten, while I teach you about all the different aspects of sealing arrays. Well, what're you waiting for? Get to it!"

"Yessir!" the young shinobi shouted, before forming 300 clones with a single handseal, to add to the 400 doing chakra control exercises, the 200 each working on wind and earth manipulation, the 250 going through taijutsu stances, and the 50 working hard at the first stage of Rasengan. Immediately afterwards, he bounded into the trees, missing the evil smirk his sensei shot at him. This would be fun.

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto was running atop the wall surrounding the village, obviously still ignorant about the true nature of the task he'd been assigned. When he figured it out, the look on his face would be priceless.

Easily keeping pace alongside his student, Jiraiya supposed he should start the lecture. After all, the early part was the most crucial, the most difficult to understand, and the most likely to have him asking questions. Better the kid get it all in his head _before _he realized the trick the man had pulled.

"As I explained the other day, most common seals fall under the category of array seals. Things like exploding tags, storage scrolls, and even the weight seals on your wrist and ankle bracers are all based around the concept of an array. Every sealing array can be divided into a central part and an outer part. The central part determines the focus of the seal, the core idea of whatever effect it has, while the outer part determines the function, the specifics of what it does and how it does it.

"The central part is by far the simpler of the two, consisting of a single kanji that best expresses the seal's purpose. For example, a water purification seal would contain the kanji for water, and a seal designed for making an object more durable would have the kanji for durability, unless it was made for a specific object, in which case it would probably be the kanji for that object."

He paused, allowing Naruto a chance to ask any questions that might have come to mind. The boy didn't disappoint. "But kanji are just symbols, right? Things people came up with to express ideas. Outside of our minds, there's no real connection between the kanji and whatever it represents, so how's it able to affect the seal so much?" Heh, trust him to ask what was perhaps the hardest question possible to answer. Really, anyone who honestly thought he was dumb needed to have their own intelligence checked.

The sage spent a couple seconds mulling over how best to answer the question. Normally, he would've given a vague reply about it being a complicated topic and left it at that, but for the fact that his pupil seemed genuinely interested. Leaving him hanging would no doubt harm the still-developing bond between them, but a detailed answer required advanced knowledge in not only fuuinjutsu, but chakra theory as well, and would end up with the blonde confused and unsatisfied.

As was often true in life, the middle route seemed best, to give him a general explanation of the concept, while leaving out the more complicated bits. "It's because of belief. I'm sure you've had plenty of times when you believed so strongly in something that you were able to do things you'd never be capable of normally, am I right?" The young ninja nodded in agreement. "Well it's a bit like that, only instead of the strong belief of a single person, it's a much less intense, shared belief amongst everyone who's ever lived. That shared belief is one of the most powerful, albeit subtle forces in the world, and is in fact why things like the twelve main handseals work the way they do."

A look of understanding dawned on the young genin's face. "So is that why they teach the handseals and their meanings so early on in the Academy and why attending at least half a year before turning nine is required? Because more people knowing it makes 'em work better?" Well, the brat certainly had a talent for drawing conclusions quickly.

"Not really; it's mostly of a side benefit. That law was made more to be able to drill emergency protocols and basic self-defense into the heads of all the non-ninja. The idea is that that it'll reduce civilian casualties in the case of an unexpected large-scale attack on Konoha. Fortunately, that theory has never had to be put to the test. Most of the other villages are actually pretty strict on letting in applicants to the ninja program, and they tend to look down on our strategy, saying that we're wasting resources.

"Anyway, getting back on topic, the construction of the outer part of an array seal is based around a pretty unusual concept and is the main reason most ninja never delve far into the sealing arts. They simply can't wrap their minds around the idea, and if they can't even make a basic array seal with any consistency, any attempt at a flow seal would backfire explosively, and trying to create a key seal would be downright impossible.

"The thing you need to always keep in mind about fuuinjutsu is that it is an _art_, not a science. No two seals are made exactly the same, and no two seal-makers will do things the same way. If you try to copy a seal array line by line, I can guarantee you that the copy will not work. There are rules and structures that have to be followed, as well as guidelines that enhance efficiency, and I'll be teaching you all those, but nothing ever holds 100% of the time. Most people don't like this, the apparent uncertainty. It messes with their sense of a logical world, and... Brat, where d'you think you're going?" Ahhh, finally.

The energetic blonde came to an immediate halt, turning around to look back at him. "Around the village, like you sa-" He cut himself off on noticing what direction Jiraya was facing. Slowly, the truth no doubt dawning on him, he began to turn in a full circle, gaze traveling for miles along the outskirts of the training grounds, up behind the Hokage mountain, then around the far side of the village, right back to his sensei.

The white-haired man let him sit there for several seconds, gaping in disbelief. "I guess I forgot to mention," he said casually, "that when I said you should be done by ten, I meant ten at night." It was all he could do to keep from bursting out in laughter at the ridiculous look of shock on the boy's face.

"...You sadistic bastard," Naruto growled out, before taking off at his top speed, this time heading around the whole of Konoha. If he could keep it up, he might actually be able to finish on time.

The Sannin broke into a fast jog, passing his student in seconds. Then he turned around and started running backwards so he could continue the lecture without worrying about his voice being lost in the rush of wind. Really, he probably should've left a shadow clone to do this, but that would be a bit too cruel to the boy. Oh well, he could deal with a little soreness tomorrow. Now, where was he? Ah, yes, "As I was saying, most people don't like the apparent uncertainty in sealing...

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The sound of her palm striking the wooden post echoed through the training ground, again and again, in a steady rhythm. "Here early again I see?" Kurenai-sensei's smooth voice came from behind her. Had she been the same girl she was back in the Academy, Hinata would have jumped in surprise before hiding behind the nearest object.

But the shy Hyuuga had grown tremendously since then, as her teammates had pointed out to her, so she kept right on with her exercises. "Y-yes. I need to get stronger."

These past few days, the red-eyed woman had been pushing all three of them harder than ever in training, just as she had said. It was an intensity Hinata had never experienced before, and the only thing that had kept her going were thoughts of Naruto-kun. He put himself through far more, constantly, and she would never be worthy of his recognition if she didn't also try her hardest.

It was this train of thought that had led her to come out here at six in the morning yesterday and again today, three hours before the scheduled team meeting time. "Be careful that you don't overdo it," Kurenai-sensei advised, "pushing yourself too far is worse than not training at all." The pale-eyed girl once again felt a brief surge of happiness at the woman's concern for her. She was truly thankful she'd been placed under her, as there was no doubt in her mind that any of the other jonins would have simply brushed her to the side in favor of her much more talented classmates.

"Hey, Hinata, stop thinking such troublesome thoughts," Shikamaru called out as he approached, his best friend by his side, chewing on something as usual. "Good morning Kurenai-sensei." Her genius teammate's uncanny ability to guess her thoughts had long since lost its surprise.

"Shikamaru-kun, Ch-Chouji kun," the timid girl greeted in return.

As usual, Kurenai-sensei got straight to business. "Good morning, all of you. Last night, I was able to finish those evaluations I'd been working on, and I believe I have found the optimal training strategies to maximize each of your current skills.

"Shikamaru," she called, the lazy boy's eyes glancing at her briefly to show he was paying attention, "as you no doubt suspected, you are best suited to a support role in combat, hanging back planning and waiting for a good opportunity to strike. While you are fairly fast and agile, you lack the power and, frankly speaking, motivation to be an effective close-range fighter. Your greatest flaw at the moment is your lack of stamina, so I want to see you running laps for at least two hours every day, preferably with light weights on each limb. Stamina is essential for someone in your position, because if you exhaust yourself while waiting for an opening, you will be in no position to take advantage of it. I also have a few more genjutsus to teach you, and you should talk to your father about working on your clan jutsus." The Nara sighed at the prospect of all the work that was to come, but held back his complaints.

Red eyes moved on to look at the other male of team 8. "You, Chouji, are clearly geared towards heavy combat. Your chakra capacity and reserves, strength, and resilience are all impressive given your age, even amongst your clan. Speed simply isn't necessary for you like it is your teammates, because you can afford to take hits and deal damage by counterattacking. The thing you need to focus on most is chakra control. Whenever you attack, you waste large amounts of energy, which is an excellent way to tire yourself out. I have a scroll of exercises for you to work on, and like Shikamaru, be sure not to neglect your clan training." She took the mentioned scroll from her pouch and handed it to him, before turning to her final student.

"Hinata, as we discussed when teams first formed, your role of both scout and close-range combatant is the most demanding position on the team, and you have been performing splendidly. Right now, your largest issue is that you are too rigidly entrenched in the ways of your clan." The Hyuuga heiress, hearing this, was only just able to hold back the response, ingrained into her since childhood, that the clan's way was the best way. Kurenai-sensei caught the suppressed reaction anyway and frowned, not at her, but at her situation. The girl's upbringing had been the subject of many discussions between the two of them over the past several months. "The Hyuuga methods, while effective, are too strict and do not accommodate individuals such as yourself who do not fit the proper mold. I believe that some time away from your clan would do you good and as such have already submitted a request to Hokage-sama for you to live with me for the remainder of this month. Now, since you are already warmed up, you and I will spar while the boys go through their own routines."

The last sentence didn't quite register, as her mind had shut down when the woman talked about moving in with her. It was preposterous; Father would never allow something like that. For her to leave the compound was just... And what if, what if someone... Her breath started to come out in short gasps as memories of that night so long ago rose to the surface. No, Kurenai-sensei would protect her, she would! Besides, she was older now too, able to protect herself! And what would Naruto-kun think if he were to see her breaking down like this, over something so little as a month away from home?

It was the last thought that eventually allowed her to regain control of herself, to find her sensei's red, worried eyes right in front of her, arms wrapped around her in a comforting hug, Chouji-kun and Shikamaru-kun standing nearby in concern. "I... I'm sorry, Hinata. I didn't think. I should have realized you still... I'll go back and ask Sandaime-sama to forget about-"

She cut the kneeling woman off. "N-no. I can face this; I _have to_ face this," the pale-eyed girl said, sounding far more confident than she felt "I made a promise to get stronger, and overcoming my fears is part of that. I will not go back on my word, that is my nindo." Drawing strength from the words of the man she admired and the connection to him they gave her, Hinata was able to stand back up (when had she fallen to her knees in the first place? She couldn't remember).

Taking several deep, calming breaths, the young kunoichi locked her dark memories back deep in her mind. "Kurenai-sensei, you wanted to spar?" she asked, settling into a jyuuken stance, ready to get back to training.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A scream tore its way from Ino's throat as a wave of pain shot through her, and she collapsed forward, hands clutching at her head. When her senses returned, she found herself wrapped up in her father's arms, the two blondes seated comfortably on the living room couch. "I think that's enough sweetie. You're still too young to be trying to learn that jutsu," he concernedly admonished.

But the kunoichi had already made her decision. "No, Daddy. I can do this, I know I can; I just need more time."

"Ino, it's too dangerous. If you're not careful, the mental backlash..."

"That's why I've got you helping me. I'm a ninja now, danger is part of my life," The girl turned around and gave her father her best determined look, pale blue eyes gazing unwaveringly into an identical pair.

Inoichi was the first to look away, with a quiet sigh, "When did you start growing up?"

The question caught the young Yamanaka completely by surprise. While she knew it was rhetorical, she found herself thinking about it anyway. It was true that she had come a long way from the bossy brat she'd been back at the Academy, but what shocked her was that she hadn't even noticed the change occurring. Apparently growing up really was a subtle process.

"All right, missy," her dad's voice broke her from her thoughts, "we'll keep working on it, but you have to promise you'll do whatever I say, and no trying anything without my supervision, got it?"

By the stern look in his eyes, she knew this was the best deal she'd get. "I promise," she answered with a nod.

"Good. First, I want you to take a break," he ordered.

"A break. That sounds nice..." she trailed off. Her brain was still throbbing as if someone had driven a kunai into it, so she could definitely agree to that idea.

For several minutes, father and daughter sat together in comfortable silence. Without really thinking about it, she slid off his lap, though he kept an arm around her shoulders comfortingly, as the pain subsided.

"...Why the sudden interest in this jutsu, anyway? It's not like it'll help you any in the exam. The target does need to be willing, after all," he inquired, curious.

Damn. She hadn't expected him to ask this soon. Trying to slip a lie past one of the heads of the Torture and Interrogation was complete foolishness, so she'd just have to be honest and hope he wouldn't overreact. "It's... it's because of Naruto."

Sure enough, the blonde man frowned. "Ino, with what you know about your teammate, I don't think I need to tell you just how idiotic it is to use any of our clan jutsus on him, let alone one as strong as this." She moved to protest, but he kept going. "He's an amazing boy, and I trust him fully with you physically, but mentally-"

"Dad, I've already been inside his mind!" Ino cut in, silencing him, "Naruto... he's... he's in so much pain, all the time. He hides it, and it's definitely better now that he has me and Kiba, but it's still there. He's suffering, from the fox, from the years of neglect and loneliness, and he doesn't deserve all that. And if I can... if I can learn this, then I'll be able to help him... just a little bit more... I just... He needs someone..." She wasn't sure when she started to cry, first noticing it when a wet, salty tear trickled into her mouth.

Her father was hugging her again. "Sshh, it's okay. I'm sorry, I'm sorry Ino. I didn't realize..."

"So, so you're okay with it then? You're not going to get mad, or stop teaching me, or something?" she sniffled.

The man gave her a sad smile. "Of course not. I just... Like I said before, you're growing up, and I'm still getting used to that." He reached down and wiped away the tear tracks left behind on her face. "As for being okay with you planning on using that jutsu on a boy with multiple personality disorder and a demon sealed in him, I'm not at all okay with it, because it's indescribably dangerous, and I have the right as your parent to worry about you. But it's your decision, and also as your parent I have the responsibility to support your decisions." Then he gave her a conspiratorial look, "Let's keep it a secret from your mother though."

"Keep _what_ a secret from me, Inoichi?" said woman demanded, startling them both. Brown eyes glared.

"Ah, um, it's nothing, Kaede dearest!" the blonde man blurted out, obviously trying to buy time as he thought up an excuse. The genin stifled a laugh at his antics. "Ino was just telling me about a boy she likes!"

"DADDY!" the girl exclaimed, feeling a blush spring up on her cheeks. She didn't _really _feel that way about Naruto...

...right?

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Feeling half-dead, Naruto stumbled over the edge of the gate that had marked the starting point of his run. Half his body felt like it had been lit on fire and left to burn to a crisp, while the other half was shouting that that half had gotten off easy. Slowly, painfully, his eyes moved upward to find the moon, and the young shinobi was so exhausted, he needed several seconds to piece together what time its position represented.

He bore the unrelenting aching for a few more seconds as he grinned triumphantly at the man in front of him. "Ha... take that... Ero... sennin... Nine... fifty-nine." With those words, he collapsed forwards onto the walltop, his legs no longer able to support his weight. Hitting the stone surface hurt, and it was really uncomfortable, but he was so tired he was beyond caring, and the coolness was a blessing to his sweat-soaked body.

Really, the boy was amazed with himself for having made it. For the last eighty miles or so, he'd been going on nothing but sheer willpower. Sometime tomorrow, he'd need to go over his memories to catch the old bastard's lecture, as he'd been way too busy running to pay attention, but that was for some time when he wasn't... so... sleepy...

...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_He stumbled wildly through the moonlit forest, nearly tripping over raised roots, his left hand slick with blood as he held it over the gaping wound that had once been an eye. He had to get away, had to run. Not that it mattered. _He _would still find him._

_Panic set in full-force as slow, even footsteps approached from behind. He spun, kunai held defensively in his free hand (not that it would be any use). No one was there. He turned back to continue his flight, and froze._

_Red eyes looked down at him in calm disappointment, the black markings in the shape of a three-pointed shuriken a sign of the overwhelming power they held. "Poor Sasuke. Did you truly think yourself able to challenge me with only this level of power? Pathetic."_

_Desperately, the young Uchiha thrust forward with the kunai still grasped tightly in his right hand. He felt a single instant of triumph as the bladed weapon seemed to sink into the man's stomach, only for it to be replaced by fear when Itachi faded away like mist._

_His right side erupted in pain, and he looked down at the blood-soaked sword that had slid between his ribs. It was the same blade from that night, the spatters of red liquid, his clan's blood (and now his own) matching perfectly with his memory._

_Sasuke screamed as he fell back, no longer able to move._

"_So, this is as far as your anger can take you." The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. __"And I had such high hopes for you, little brother. It seems I was mistaken." He emerged from the darkness amongst the trees, sword again resting in his hand. "Very well. I shall simply have to correct my mistake." Itachi darted forward._

_There was a flash of silver._

Sasuke shot up in his sleeping bag with a scream, sharingan spinning wildly. A hand went up to wipe away the sweat on his face, absently checking to be sure his left eye was still there, as he greedily sucked in lungfuls of air. It had been a long time since he'd had a nightmare that bad.

Taking stock of his surroundings, the last Uchiha was relieved to find himself alone in the camp. If Kakashi, or worse Kiba, had seen him startle like that...

The black-eyed young ninja knew from experience that he wouldn't be falling back to sleep anytime soon, so he might as well get some training in, maybe even work on _that_ a little, since the other two weren't around. It would be a nice departure from the constant taijutsu drills, tactics lectures, and chakra control training the one-eyed jonin had him doing. The man was no doubt waiting until the next two weeks to teach him some better ninjutsu, when the dog-boy was back with his clan. That elemental manipulation exercise, making a spark of lightning shoot back and forth between his palms, didn't count.

As he made his way through the trees, the genin heard a voice from a nearby clearing. Since no one but the three of was supposed to be out here in this remote training ground, he decided to check it out and quietly, carefully approached.

His stealth was rewarded when he came upon the Inuzuka, pacing impatiently back and forth. Luckily, the wind was blowing towards him, so the other genin could not pick up his scent. What was he doing out here so late at night? The last Uchiha's excellent eyes could easily see the way two nearby trees had had a large section of their trunks demolished by an unknown jutsu, so he was doing some sort of heavy, secret training.

"Damn it, Kakashi-sensei," Kiba exclaimed to the open air, "How long does it take to go over to the Tower and drop off a report?" The man's chronic tardiness one thing that had always gotten on Sasuke's nerves. But did that mean the jonin had been teaching this idiot something? Why him? Why not teach Sasuke, who could learn whatever it was in an instant with his sharingan?

After a few more seconds of pacing, the dog-boy looked down at his puppy. "Screw this. What that lazy pervert doesn't know can't hurt him, right Akamaru?" There was a short series of barks, then, "Don't worry, I'm just gonna practice activating the thing, not actually use it." He settled into a crouch, and the Uchiha could see a large mass of lightning chakra gathering. "Right. Monkey, dragon,, rat, bird, ox, snake, dog, tiger, ox, rabbit. monkey," he called out the handseals as he formed them, Sasuke's still-activated eyes automatically copying down the motions and chakra flow, "chidori!"

The Inuzuka brought his right hand down low in front of him, his left gripping the wrist tightly. The huge accumulation of chakra shot down to the hand, so much energy gathered there that it gave off a bright light, little bolts of electricity dancing back and forth within.

Sasuke felt rage flare up within him, and before he knew what he was doing he'd leapt from his hiding place. "What the hell is this?" His sudden appearance startled the other boy enough that he lost concentration and the mass of chakra dispersed. "Why's Kakashi teaching you such a powerful Jutsu? I'm his student, I'm the one who should be learning things like that! You're just some useless waste of space whose sensei didn't care about enough to bother with!"

Both dogs let out a feral growl. "Say that again, I dare you!"

"I said you're worthless, and that I should be the one learning that jutsu, not you!"

Before either one could move to attack, an overwhelming blast of killing intent froze the boys in place, as Kakashi appeared in between them.. "Sasuke, be silent! The chidori is a jutsu I created for the sole purpose of killing an enemy. The _only_ reason I am teaching it to Kiba now is because his first opponent in the exams has already shown himself to have no qualms about taking the life of his opponents. Furthermore, Kiba has proven himself to have the right mindset to know whether or not a situation calls for lethal force. You, on the other hand, have proven yourself more than once to be incapable of making this distinction.

"I kept this secret from you so that you would not have to resist the temptation to copy the technique with your sharingan. Unfortunately, due to foolishness on both of your parts it seems that has happened anyway. So it is now my responsibility to train you in its use as well, if only to keep you from accidentally killing your own idiotic self some day. But I will warn you right here and now that if you ever use the chidori against another person without my express permission, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are locked away in prison for the rest of your life, and you will never be able to have the revenge you so desire. Is that clear?"

The Uchiha could barely bring himself to nod. _Never _had anyone, let alone anyone he respected, shown such raw anger and... disappointment towards him. It made him feel like a child who had done something wrong.

"And Kiba, I believe I gave you specific instructions not to use the technique while I was not present." The other boy just hung his head in shame.

"Let's head back to the camp. We all have lots to think about now, so we should sleep on it and continue this in the morning." Despite the casual tone of voice, the grey-haired man's words were not meant as a suggestion.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The red-headed little girl skipped joyfully up the stairs to her home. Her home. She, _Uzumaki_ Asuka, had a home, and a family, and even though it would be a whole two months in a couple weeks since it all happened, she still felt a little tingle of happiness run up and down her spine whenever she thought about it. And she had a big brother who was a super-awesome super-strong ninja!

Bursting through the apartment door, she saw something she wasn't expecting. "Naruto-oniisan, you're home!" she shouted, throwing herself at her brother. She knew it was the real him because he was all bruised and scuffed up and sweaty. Not that she cared about that.

He picked her up and gave her a bright grin. "Yup! I told Ero-sennin that you said I wasn't spending enough time with you, the original me that is, so he worked me really hard and let me off early! So today, we're gonna do whatever you want, got it?"

Asuka gasped. Whatever she wanted? Really? This was a chance she just couldn't pass up! "You promise?" she pleaded up at him after he put her back down.

"I promise," he said back, all fake-serious, but laughing happily inside. "So what first? D'you wanna play 'tickle the Asuka,' or the flying game?"

She perked up when he said the flying game, but remembered that there'd be lotsa time later on. Right now... "I wanna hear about the super-hard training you had to do!" It was too kiddy to say out loud, but she loved it when her big brother told her stories. 'Specially the true ones. He even made really boring stuff like walking down a street interesting!

The world blurred for a couple seconds as Naruto-oniisan grabbed her and moved really really fast, and she was sitting in the wood chair from the kitchen table, but the chair was by the bathroom door, and _all_ the stuff in the room was off to the sides, so there was a big open space.

Then he started. "So I came into the training ground all warmed up and ready to go after my early morning workout, and y'know what that Ero-sennin was doing?" The girl shook her head, scooting forward all excited. "Peeking on girls, that's what! I know, I know, it's not really that surprising, since I've caught him at it like a hundred times before, but still. Well I wasn't gonna stand for him doing stuff like that, 'specially when he's supposed to be training me.

"Now he was hiding in some bushes, with his long white hair just brushing the grass," he showed her how the old pervert was sitting, even using a henge so she could see the hair, "giggling away as he watched the bathing girls with his little telescope. And the way he was crouching, I knew right away just what I was gonna do, so I used the technique he taught me a couple days ago, it's this one that that lets you blast a piece of ground up into the air, and I sent a little bit of chakra through the earth 'til it was right below him, and he musta been really caught up in his peeping, 'cause he didn't notice at all, so I shot a clump of dirt right up his butt!" Asuka burst into laughter at that. He'd put dirt up the old guy's butt! Hehehe!

Her big brother frowned down at her in fake anger. "D'you want me to keep going, or not?"

"Keep going! Keep going!" she shouted, now jumping up and down on her chair.

He grinned. "Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah, so I shot some dirt up Ero-sennin's butt, and he screamed so loud the bathing girls heard him and..." The little girl listened as he went on to tell about how all the girls came running over and beat the man up, and Naruto-oniisan was rolling around on the grass laughing the whole time. Then after a minute or two he was all better and he had Naruto-oniisan make a bunch of his clones and send them off to do lots of different stuff, then he took the real Naruto-oniisan to a reeeeeeally tall cliff and made him walk up, down, sideways, a whole buncha ways along the side of the cliff, and not just with his feet, but his hands, knees, and elbows, too! And the whole time he had to have one, two, three, four, five, or even six rock clones hanging off of him! Oniisan made one for her so she could see what they were like, and it was so heavy she couldn't even lift its arm! And that wasn't all, 'cause the white-haired old man was doing something with his chakra the whole time so that her big brother had to keep changing how his chakra was... ummm... flowing... or he'd fall right off the cliff! Plus he was shooting spitballs at him!

Asuka promised that if she ever met the old guy, she'd bite his leg for being so mean to her big brother. Even though Naruto-oniisan told her she shouldn't do that 'cause he'd asked him to have him make him do all that stuff, but she didn't care, 'cause _no one_ got to be mean to her big brother but her!

It was after they had a yummy yummy lunch of ramen, milk, and turkey sandwiches that she took her chance. And she knew he knew she was planning something, 'cause he was looking at her all worried-ish-like, so she knew she must've been smirking. "Naruto-oniisan, teach me ninja stuff!" He looked like he was gonna say no right away, so she added on, "You promised whatever I wanted, remember?"

Her big brother shuddered, and for a second she was afraid he'd say no anyway, or even that he'd hit her, even though she knew he wouldn't and he loved her and he'd promised she'd never have to be hit by a mean person like that ever ever again and that if a mean person did ever hit her she just had to tell him and he'd find the mean person and beat them up even if they were the Diymyo, but she was still afraid.

And then he sighed, and his blue eyes looked at her and he was sad and happy and proud and worried all at once. "All right, I promised. And it's probably better of you're at least strong enough to keep yourself safe if I'm ever not around."

Yippeee! She jumped at him and hugged him as tight as she could, 'cause her big brother was gonna teach her how to be a super-strong ninja just like him, and she would go around helping people and beating up bad guys and stuff and it would be awesome! This was gonna be the best day _ever_!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba dropped to all fours, his sister's claw swipe passing just over his head, then quickly sprang to the left to evade the follow-up thrust from her other hand. Slashing at her with his own claws, he forced the chunin to jump back slightly, right to where Akamaru was waiting to sink his teeth into her leg.

But Hana was too fast and withdrew her limb to avoid the bite, forcing his partner to break off his attack or take a vicious counter. Meanwhile, her own companions had dodged around the spread of shuriken he'd thrown, instead of backing off as the boy had hoped, and were quickly approaching him from behind.

Seeing no other way out, the younger Inuzuka launched himself up and over the elder, trusting the small white dog to keep her busy for the brief moment he was vulnerable. Sure enough, Akamaru had darted right underneath her and lunged at her face, coming in too close for Hana-neesan to retaliate.

Spinning around in midair, Kiba hurled a couple kunai between the fast-approaching triplets and his partner, the white-furred canine pausing for an instant to gather chakra before taking off in a burst of speed, again going straight under the kunoichi. He landed next to his partner and gave their opponents a feral grin.

The older girl grinned back. "You've gotten better, little brother. Looks like I'll actually have to try now if I want to hit you."

"Ha," he shot back confidently, "even if you do try, I bet you still won't be able to!"

Three minutes later, his nearly-untouched older sister was healing the many, many cuts and bruises that littered his body as he lay on the grass, Akamaru and the senior dogs looking on amused. "Oooowww... Y'do know I was joking, right Neesan?"

"Of course," Hana answered, smiling down at him, "but a nice thrashing every so often will do you good."

Kiba scowled. "I think I've had enough thrashings to last me a lifetime."

"Aww, did the meanie Uchiha give you a boo-boo?" she teased.

The Inuzuka male sat up with a growl, ignoring his injuries. "Don't talk to me about that bastard! Honestly, even though I know he won't, I'd like to see Naruto kill him when they fight!"

His sister frowned. "Isn't that a bit harsh? I mean-"

"You didn't see it, Hana! He was _laughing!_ Laughing as he beat his own fucking _teammate_ into a coma! I had to spend the last two weeks with the sicko, and not once did he look even a bit guilty about it, even with Kakashi-sensei spending a third of the time chewing him out!" He was on his feet now, shaking in anger.

"Kiba!" the medic barked, "Calm yourself and lie back down before you bleed to death!"

The young ninja looked down at himself to see blood pouring out of his still-open wounds at a fast rate; the wave of rage had made his chakra speed up his heartbeat and bloodflow. He took a few deep breaths, getting his body back under control. "S-sorry. Oooohh, now I'm feeling a bit woozy." he said before letting himself topple over backwards.

/_Kiba! Are you okay?_/ Akamaru woofed in worry as he ran to his side.

He reached a hand up to pet his white-furred partner. "I'll be fine, little buddy, I'll be fine," he comforted, before getting a better look at just how much blood he'd lost. "Huh. I've had a lot worse than this during combat before."

"In combat you have the adrenaline rush to help deal with it," she reminded him. "Eat this."

She popped a blood replenishment pill into his mouth, and he bit down automatically, feeling the chakra-infused chemicals quickly spread through his body and get to work. "Thanks, Hana-neesan."

"What are big sisters for?" the older Inuzuka commented as she got back to work healing his wounds. "About the Uchiha, try to keep in mind what he's been through. Now I'm not saying it's an excuse for his actions, not at all, but you have to remember that that boy, when he was only seven years old, came home one day to find his entire clan, everyone he'd even known, dead at the hands of his own brother. Rumor has it that Itachi even tortured the poor kid before taking off. You don't go through something like that without coming out with some permanent damage.

"Along with his mental state, that boy has some serious talent as a ninja from everything I've heard, so Hokage-sama probably decided to take a calculated risk in making him a shinobi. Something during the match with his teammate must've reopened those old wounds, he lashed out, and now he isn't sure how to react, so he goes for his standard response to everything, which seems to be ignoring everyone else and brooding. If he doesn't show any improvement during the finals, they'll probably have him booted from the ninja ranks, regardless of his fancy eyes, so you'll have to be satisfied with that."

Kiba looked at his sister with wide eyes. "How d'you know so much?"

"I'm a chunin shooting for jonin, what did you expect? C'mon, let's go inside and get you bandaged up. And while we're doing that, you can tell me all about the last two weeks learning under the famous Hatake Kakashi." She grinned at him before helping him to his feet, and the two headed for their house.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"...2997..." he counted off, arms trembling as they held his chest up mere inches over the ground. Earth chakra flowed smoothly through the activated rock armor, allowing it to shift with even the slight shaking of his body. The muscles in his chest and arms strained as he pushed up again, slowly raising himself and the ten rock clones piled onto his back into the air until his elbows straightened, then it was back down again. "...2998..." The sweat pouring off his body was absorbed by the stone surrounding him, forcing him to continuously put more effort into maintaining the technique.

"Hey Naruto, when you're done with that, take a break and come over here. I've got something to talk to you about." Damn Ero-sennin, couldn't he see how hard this was without having his concentration disrupted?

Calm, stay calm. The old pervert was doing it on purpose, trying to get a reaction. Well it wasn't gonna work. "...2999..." Just one more, one left, then he could let his body and chakra rest for a few minutes. Up and down a final time. "...3000!" the blonde gasped out before letting the doton jutsus decompose, taking slow, deep breaths as he rolled over onto his back. He spent a few seconds just relaxing, staring up into the sky as the grass rubbed up comfortably against his bare skin. Wearing anything more than his boxers during these intense workouts, he'd found, just wasn't worth it, since the clothes stunk so much by the time he was done that he could smell himself from over a mile away.

"Oi brat! Get your ass over here!" the Sannin reminded him. Slowly, the young ninja clambered to his feet. His water pouch was in that direction anyway.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he called while walking over. "No need to get your hair all in a twist." On reaching his sensei, Naruto ignored the man completely in favor of some much-needed water. He took a couple slow, deep sips, before pouring it over his head, the cool liquid refreshing to his aching body. "Ahhhh..." he sighed in relief, a small, steady flow of chakra to the seals he'd sewn into the pouch releasing a bit of the stored water in a light stream.

His water pouch was something he was very proud of, it being his first solo sealing project. Ero-sennin had helped him in adjusting the seals on his weights, both making them more efficient at the higher levels he was now using and altering the field they projected so that it seemed to alter the weight of not only his body, but also anything he might've been touching (and anything touching that, and anything touching that, and so on), like his iwa no yoroi and iwa bunshins.

The water pouch though, had been a lot more complicated, since he'd needed seals that wouldn't degrade over time, even if constantly surrounded by liquid. They also had to be capable of functioning properly when bent into different positions, since the leather of the pouch could also bend. And most importantly, they had to release an amount of water proportional to the chakra pumped into them, instead of spitting out their entire contents at once like normal storage seals. After he and his clones spent the equivalent of about three months experimenting (though really it only took two days), they came up with something that fit all the requirements, but it only worked right up to about a gallon of water, nowhere near the amount he was aiming for. So he'd had to make a whole bunch of the things in miniature size, create a flow seal that would connect 'em all together, then reproduce the whole thing with chakra-infused thread sewn into the inside of his canteen. The end result was thirty gallons of always-fresh drinking water for the space and weight of a tiny fraction of that, with the only problem being that he had to take care not to overfill it, or else the whole thing would instantly explode with the force of about ten exploding tags. Ero-sennin had been impressed.

Over the past few weeks, the young genin's skill in fuuinjutsu had shot up at a rate that his sensei had described as extraordinary. He'd improved greatly in all the shinobi arts, but none as much as that one, having gone from complete ignorance to being able to mentally deconstruct an uncompressed flow seal at a single glance. Of course, thanks to kage bunshin, he'd had the equivalent of about a decade of studying, but it was apparently still quite a feat.

The worst part had been at the beginning, when he'd had to learn calligraphy and go over all the basic concepts in his head thousands of times before he got the hang of them. The calligraphy part had been especially brutal, since Naruto's handwriting had never exactly been legible, and sealing required extreme precision. A few days and nights with close to a thousand clones working overtime had cleared that up, leaving him with outstanding brush skills and a headache the size of the Hokage monument.

Once he'd gotten past that, the subject turned out to be just as fascinating as he'd imagined, if not more. As long as you had some idea of what you were doing and enough time on your hands, you could make a seal for just about anything, from making a temporary hole in a wall to automatically heating instant ramen. Actually, that last one sounded like a pretty good idea. It'd probably work best as a flow seal, since it would have to be something small that he could apply easily, plus he'd be using it in his apartment, so there wasn't any real risk of outside chakra influencing it. He'd need to study up on katon manipulation a bit, to get an idea of just how the heat transfer would work, plus a way to evenly distribute the energy throughout the contents of the carton, and a lot of experimenting to work out the details, but he could definitely do it.

"Brat, come back to reality, would you?" Jiraiya's voice startled him from his thoughts, to realize that he was still pouring water on himself, so much that he was standing in a small, muddy puddle. Oops.

He gave the man a sheepish, grateful look and a quick apology before taking a few more sips. Now that all the sweat was washed off his body, the boy released a quick burst of wind chakra to get rid of most of the excess water before he got dressed.

"You've seemed pretty distracted the past few days brat. Wanna tell me what's going on?"

Naruto waited until he'd finished pulling his shirt on over his head before answering. "I guess I've just had a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Bullshit," the man promptly answered, "Something's bothering you, and you're gonna tell me what it is."

"If I did have a problem, why should I tell you about it? I've been dealing with shit all my life and doing a pretty damn good job of it, so I really don't see a reason to spill my guts to a guy I barely know," he retorted. Whoa, where had that come from? Okay, he was frustrated about some stuff, he'd admit, but to snap at the guy like that, it just wasn't the way the blonde did things. Maybe it was because, while he respected Jirayia as a shinobi and trusted him because Jiji did, he just wasn't comfortable enough yet to be willing to share his life with him, unlike his teammates or friends. So it felt weird for someone like that to start trying to butt in on his personal issues. Only he'd always been one to make up his mind quickly on whether or not he liked someone, and the man was his godfather for crying out loud, meaning it was practically his job to be involved in his life...

His pondering cut off abruptly with the sage's next words. "Kid, you don't have to talk to me, but talking to _someone_ about things like these always helps. I'm not saying you need someone to give you advice; you've done an outstanding job taking care of yourself so far. It will make things easier on you though, and believe it or not, I've been through quite a bit in my fifty years, so I might be of some use here."

What the experienced ninja said made a lot of sense, so, deciding to give it a shot, Naruto brought up the one topic he'd purposely been keeping his mind away from all week. "It has to do with Asuka-chan..."

"That little redhead you've got living with you?" the Sannin asked, "You mean the jinch-"

This time, the reason for the sudden burst of anger the boy felt was quite obvious. "Don't you dare use that word! It's degrading! Besides, what the hell would you do if someone overheard you? It's not like you set up any kind of barrier seal, and _I've_ managed to catch you by surprise when you're distracted, so who's to say you'd be able to spot a stealth specialist if you weren't looking for them?"

Ero-sennin sighed and closed his eyes, sitting silently for several seconds before answering, "Sorry, brat. Anyway, the closest active foreign chakra to us is the girls over by the waterfall, and if they knew I was here, I'd already be in trouble."

There was a brief silence as Naruto considered how to put to words what was going through his head. "Y'see, Asuka-chan wants to be a ninja, and I mean, that's all good, 'cause ninjas are awesome and strong, and I know she'd be able to take care of herself normally... But like you pointed out, she's got the damn three-tails stuck in her, so if she starts going out on missions six or seven years from now, who knows when something'll go wrong, the overgrown turtle'll go crazy, and the secret will be out. Then that Akatsuki group or whatever they're called will start coming after her, and who knows how the villagers will react... She's my little sister, and I don't wanna have to see her go through all the same shit I had to deal with."

"Ah, I see," Jiraiya said as he walked over and placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, "So you're worried about her, you wanna protect the little girl and keep her safe. Well y'know what, brat?"

The young ninja looked up attentively, ready to hear whatever sagely advice his elder would give.

"You're an idiot!" the man roared, clonking him on the head so hard and suddenly that he slammed face-first into the ground. "Believe me when I say that Akatsuki has ways of finding jin- bijuu containers, even if they don't already know their identity; all we're doing by keeping it a secret is buying time. And even if the village did start to hate her, she still wouldn't be alone like you were, because she's got you there for her."

Naruto stood back up, spitting dirt from his mouth as he rubbed his head. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm not sure I can accept it just like that though."

"Give it some time brat, and just keep what I said in mind. Right now, however, why don't you have a seat?" he gestured to a nearby fallen tree from their spar earlier. "I want to tell you about what I have planned for the rest of your training."

The orange-clad shinobi could remember knocking over said tree with a wind jutsu, trying to make it topple over on Ero-sennin while a trio of his extra-tough shadow clones kept him busy, but the man had just raised an earth spire that deflected it off to the side. He made himself comfortable in the indentation left behind.

"You're already set to give that arrogant Uchiha the ass-kicking of a lifetime, crush whoever else you might get matched up against in the exam, and make chunin with flying colors, so it's time we started thinking about the future. Whether you like it or not, you are going to start attracting attention from some pretty powerful people in the future, you've already run into Orochimaru once, however briefly, Akatsuki will be coming after you, and who knows what else.

"The way you are right now, anyone on that level could destroy you before you even know it, so in case something happens anytime soon, you'll need some kind of trump card if you wanna get out of a situation like that alive. It's time I started teaching you how to control the Kyuubi's chakra."

"No."

Jiraiya was surprised. "Brat, I get that you don't like the fox, but Minato designed the seal to let you draw on its chakra, and-"

"I don't care if Dad designed the seal to let me dye the bastard's fur pink! The only thing I want to do with the Kyuubi is to find a way to kill it, permanently!" Once again, he was on his feet, seething with rage. Use the fox's chakra? Was the man out of his mind?

"Look, Naruto," the Sannin tried to calm him, "I understand you're hesitant, but if we take things slow-"

"No, Ero-sennin, you don't understand. You don't understand, and you _can't_ understand because you've never felt it. No, shut up," he cut the man off with a glare when it looked like he was going to say something, "I don't give a fuck if you were there that night, what you felt then was _not_ the Kyuubi's power, not really. If the Kyuubi had actually attacked Konoha, we'd all be dead, and there'd be a giant chunk missing from the middle of Fire Country.

"Twice now, I've had that thing's power flowing through me, just the tiniest bit, so little it was like a drop in the ocean, but even that little bit... It's raw _power_, and when I had it, I felt like I could do anything, be Hokage, blow up a mountain, boil a lake, and the whole time, I could feel that what I had was _nothing_ compared to everything that still lay waiting to be drawn on. The stuff is a drug, an insanely addictive drug that makes you want it more and more each time you use it, and I can't pull away from it on my own, 'cause the fox's mind starts melding with mine, and when even your _thoughts _aren't entirely yours, there's no way you can control your actions.

"The first time, during my mission to Wave, I got shocked out of it. I was thinking of the person I was fighting as _prey_, toying with him, relishing his fear before I ended his life, and then suddenly it turned out to be someone I knew, and that was what woke me up and let me regain control of myself. The second time, I was in a wild rage to start with, and this lady, she said something that made me hesitate. I came to my senses enough that I could feel the Kyuubi slowly slipping me its chakra, such a little bit that I wouldn't have noticed otherwise, and would've gone straight from my own rage into its without even knowing the difference. And right then, I knew I had to do something, but I couldn't just force the chakra down this time, even though there was less of it than before, I needed it out of me right that instant, so I did the only thing I could think of and forced all that energy, all that power, out of my body at once.

"To say that it destroyed everything around me just isn't strong enough, because even after something's destroyed, bits and pieces of it still remain, but this... There was _nothing_. I released such a huge blast that everything for two hundred meters just _dissolved_. The Kyuubi's chakra is not something I'm willing to play around with just to try and give myself a power boost, it's too damn dangerous."

Blue eyes glared defiantly up at the toad sage for several seconds, then, "All right, if you feel that strongly about it, I doubt anything I can say would change your mind. And there's no point in trying to teach you something you refuse to learn, so I'll just have to find something else for you to focus on. While I'm doing that, you're gonna make four or five iwa bunshin and have them beat on you; just like the other times, no blocking or dodging, chakra reinforcement only. And now I want you to keep your eyes closed; use your other senses to figure out where and when the attacks are coming. See if you can last an hour and a half this time, but be sure you don't overdo it."

Having received his next task, Naruto leapt off in search of a nice open space to carry out the hellacious but extremely effective exercise.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

Well, this certainly turned out to be a long chapter, and it's really all in-between stuff, there to keep you up-to-date on what's going on with the characters, plus a bit about seals in this story. I'll say a little more on that in just a minute.

One thing I'd like to re-point out here, since it was only mentioned briefly in the chapter, is that this Konoha has mandatory attendance at the ninja academy, albeit for a brief time only. It's an idea that you only see occasionally in fanfics, and it has a big effect on the whole atmosphere of the village, so I figured it was important enough to bring up again.

Hinata's scene was a fairly hard one for me to write. There were a few things that needed to be said about team eight and how they're doing, but it wasn't enough to make a full scene. So a good part of that was just me typing up whatever seemed to fit best. In the end, I got in everything I wanted to and some stuff that I hadn't planned on but worked well anyway.

As for Ino, her parents finally make an appearance. Inoichi was interesting to write, a concerned father trying to both support and protect his adolescent daughter. And yes, I intentionally kept secret just what the jutsu she's working on does.

Finally, I had a chance to let Sasuke display a slightly wider range of emotions. Even his anger here wasn't quite the same as usual, since it was more focused and purposeful, as opposed to his normal I-hate-the-world rage. Plus, being able to show that he's scared, even if he won't admit it, is nice.

Asuka was fun. I tried to write that scene through the mind of a six-year-old, but I'm not sure how good a job I did. This part was actually one I hadn't been planning on originally, but I needed something to go between Sasuke and Kiba's scenes, and it sort of evolved from there. I'd like to think I did a good job here in showing just how much Asuka looks up to Naruto, and the idea of Naruto-the-storyteller was something that just seems to fit well with his personality. I thought about having him tell the whole story himself instead of Asuka's condensed version, but this chapter is long enough as it is.

And we get to see another family member in Hana, plus a little bit of fighting thrown in so I don't bore everyone to death. Sibling relationships, I've decided, are fun to write, as are characters who aren't well-defined in canon.

Last we have Naruto's really long scene. Originally, I hadn't thought it would turn out that long, but it was the only way to fit in everything that had to be said. As you can see, his relationship with Jiraya is a bit different from in canon, in large part because Jirayia just doesn't comprehend the Kyuubi's real nature and tends to treat it and the whole jinchuriki issue a bit too lightly for Naruto's tastes. The main purpose of this scene is to give an update on Naruto's training and the part where he outright refuses to use the fox's chakra.

Now, seals. In this story, there are three distinct types of seals, and two of them are mentioned in this chapter. There are array seals, which Jirayia explains, and flow seals, which Naruto brings up a few times. Flow seals are made of simple brush strokes that act to guide the chakra flowing through them. They're much more varied than array seals in terms of what they are capable of, but they're much easier to disrupt if not done well. Since the way the chakra is flowing is so essential to proper functioning, outside sources of chakra can interfere fairly easily. So fuuinjutsu users came up with compressed flow seals, where the more delicate parts are safely stored away. Orochimaru's cursed seal is an example of an extremely complex compressed flow seal. The third type of seal is the key seal, called such because it relies on a complicated key being written out beforehand, designating all the different aspects of the seal and what they do. Making a key seal is something only a master of the art should attempt. Obviously, the seal holding the Kyuubi is a key seal, since I got the whole idea from the key shown in canon.

With that out of the way, the next chapter will finish off the month break, and after that we have the chunin exam finals.

Last chapter, I said I was going to change the story title when I posted this chapter. I've since changed my mind and will delay the title change until _next_ chapter. Instead, I'll simply announce what the new title will be, which will hopefully cut down on the number of people who lose track of the fic once I make the switch.

Once chapter 29 goes up, this story will be titled "Naruto: Chosen Vessel." I'd like to thank Kurtulmak for the suggestion.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

beta readers: ABitterPill, ching965, Orion


	29. one day more

**chapter 29**

**one day more**

Naruto made his way across the training ground towards the sound of combat, the first rays of sunlight occasionally glinting through the trees. Half his mind was still on the seal tag in his pouch. He'd spent a sizable chunk of the past week preparing it, and Ero-sennin had checked his work over, confirming that it had a good chance of working properly.

"Oi, Fuzzy-brows, Gai-sensei!" he called out loudly before the pair of taijutsu specialists came into view, so they'd have time to halt any secret training they might've been doing. Those two often got so worked up that they probably wouldn't have noticed his approach otherwise.

Not a moment later, the blonde ninja had to act fast as his good friend crashed through a tree, soaring right towards him. He braced himself and caught the green-clad boy rather than letting him slam into another tree, as training with the white-haired pervert had taught him just how much that could hurt. Despite the chakra in his feet, Lee's momentum still sent him sliding back several inches; the other genin had definitely increased his leg weights by quite a bit over the past month.

"Lee, you must not lose your focus during battle!" the elder Green Beast shouted, his leg still extended from the kick he must've just hit his student with, "Even to greet a most youthful friend!" While part of Naruto had really missed his morning training with the eccentric pair, another part had been quite glad to get away from the excessive youth.

He set his fellow genin down gently on the ground. "Sorry about distracting you, Fuzzy-Brows."

"Yosh! It is no problem, Naruto-kun!" the green-clad boy exclaimed right into his face. "It was my own fault that I was distracted! As punishment, I shall do 5,000 pushups with a boulder on my back! And if I cannot do that, I shall run 50 laps around the village while carrying a tree! And if I cannot do that-"

"Fuzzy-brows!" he called, interrupting his friend before the tasks he set for himself could become truly ludicrous, "I came to see you 'cause I've got something important I need to tell you. It's about the tournament tomorrow. Specifically your opponent, Gaara."

The taijutsu specialist began to cry freely in joy. "How very youthful of you, to worry about me! But there is no need, as Gai-sensei and I have already created a strategy to counter the ability with sand he displayed in his match!"

"Lemme guess: use your speed to get past the sand and knock him out, right?" The two bowl-cut-haired ninjas nodded, picking up on his seriousness. "Bad idea. I learned that Gaara, when he was born, had the Ichibi no Tanuki sealed into him," Naruto told them grimly.

He saw Gai's eyes widen in surprise and understanding, while Lee just gave him a confused look. Silently asking the jonin for permission to explain, the blonde received a slight nod.

So he explained to his friend about the bijuu, what they were, the raw destruction that even the weakest of them was capable of. Naruto talked in specific about the Ichibi, how it had been in Suna's possession long enough that common factors could be found between its containers, namely the insomnia and how it took control whenever the host lost consciousness.

By the time he was finished, Lee was horrified. "To think that people would force such a terrible burden on a newborn child. How unyouthful."

"Fuzzy-brows, you're missing the point," the blonde told him, while secretly happy at the other boy's reaction; it meant he definitely wouldn't have any issue accepting Naruto's own status as a vessel someday. "You knock Gaara out, and there'll be a hundred meter tall demon rampaging in the middle of a crowded stadium."

The taijutsu specialist's face fell. "But... but... I don't want to just give up! I must follow my nindo, and become a great ninja using only taijutsu!"

But the younger genin wasn't one to leave his friends without help. "Hey, calm down. You can still win, you'll just have to do it a different way."

Eyes shining with newfound excitement, Lee looked at him in anticipation. "Truly? Please tell me your idea, Naruto-kun!" Gai-sensei seemed interested too.

"Y'see, the past month, I've been learning fuuinjutsu, and I managed to make... this!" the orange-clad shinobi announced, whipping the complex paper seal from his pack proudly. "If you can get this thing in direct contact with Gaara's skin, right over his chakra core, it should temporarily kill his body's ability to channel chakra, and that'll be that!"

"YOSH! Naruto-kun!" The enthusiastic shinobi leapt at him, arms wide, and the short boy had to pull a speedy kawarimi, to save himself from becoming part of The Sunset. He kept his eyes closed until the impossible genjutsu faded, when Lee realized he was holding a slightly-crushed log instead of a person.

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to dodge when Gai-sensei had the exact same reaction, and the blonde felt his ribs creak in protest at the sheer pressure of the jonin's hug. To make matters worse, an invisible force kept his eyes open and prevented him from looking away, as the sight of the eyes dripping miniature waterfalls of tears and lit by the setting sun was permanently burned into his mind.

As soon as he was able to breathe again, Naruto flared his chakra in irritation, bringing the other two up short. "Oi, hold on a minute. I wasn't done yet!"

Both taijutsu specialists looked ashamed. "Ah, please forgive our most unyouthful interruption, Naruto-kun. Lee and I were temporarily overcome by the passion of your flames of youth," the elder Green Beast apologized.

Having learned long ago that any sort of response while the two were in "youth mode" would simply serve as encouragement, the young shinobi opted to just keep on with what he was going to say. "Fuzzy-brows, there's a few things you'll need to know about this tag. First of all, it's one use only, so be sure you get it in the right spot. Second, since you can't use chakra externally, I had to set it to activate the moment it's flat against a chakra source, so be careful that doesn't happen beforehand. And third is that there's a chance it won't work; I had no way of knowing what sorta seal was used on Gaara, so I had to make a pretty basic design and just pack a ton of chakra into it. Depending on how it interacts with his seal, it could work perfectly, or it could just cause a big explosion. If it doesn't work, I'm sorry, but you'll probably have to forfeit." The blonde handed the small slip of paper over to his friend.

"Anyway," he continued with only the briefest of pauses, "I gotta get going; Ero-sennin has some last-minute stuff planned for me. Good luck tomorrow!" The last three words were shouted as Naruto ran away at top speed. He hadn't been lying in saying that the Sannin had plans, but more than that, he just didn't wanna risk getting hugged again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Jiraiya walked around the clearing to look over his sealwork one more time, checking for any possible flaws; the setup he had prepared was extremely delicate, and the smallest mistake could send things spiraling out of control faster than Tsunade lost money at poker. And given his pupil's absurdly large chakra reserves, the results of that happening would be disastrous.

Speaking of the little blonde rascal, here he came now, half a mile away and moving fast. The brat could be pretty damn good at stealth when he wanted to, even if he usually didn't bother. Right now though, the toad sage's well-honed sense of hearing had no trouble picking up the sound of a person talking to himself while tree-hopping, something about sunset hugs of doom, and that unique chakra stood out like the sun to anyone who could feel it.

Once more, the Sannin questioned the wisdom of what he was about to do. There were other ways to test Naruto's emotional control, ways that were far less risky. But none would be as comprehensive as this, plus it would no doubt leave his student furious with him, which would be useful for what he had planned next.

He finished double-checking the last array just as the young genin burst from the trees. Satisfied, the man looked up just in time to catch the usual exuberant greeting. "Mornin' Ero-sennin!" The boy took a brief look around, blue eyes quickly taking in the large, complex circle of seals drawn directly onto the level ground, "What's all this? Some kinda test, am I suppose't decipher it or something?"

Needing to hurry him along, lest he figure out the purpose of some of the seals and subconsciously resist them once activated, Jiraiya answered quickly. "I'll explain in a bit; for now I just want you to stand in the center." The sharp blonde immediately picked up on the strangeness of the situation, giving him a suspicious look, but complied nonetheless. "Good. Now..."

A quick pulse of chakra through his foot to the activation seal he was standing on brought the entire meta-array to life. Naruto was now suspended in a chakra field, in the exact same position he'd just been standing in, his mind locked in a fully controllable hybrid genjutsu-fuuinjutsu world. Unlike the normal version, used mostly for advanced training in specific areas, he'd included a memory modification seal to enhance the apparent reality of the world; it was a pity that the whole thing required a willing participant, as Ibiki would no doubt otherwise have wanted something like this badly enough he'd order that hot kunoichi assistant of his to strip in order to get his scarred hands on it.

Sighing at the thought of such wonderful research material missed, the man created a shadow clone to keep watch, before entering the illusionary world himself.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I'm home," Tenten called out to her empty apartment as she came in the door. She'd decided to end her training early, seeing as tomorrow was going to be one of the most important days in her young life. Unfortunately, with her teammates and friends busy, that left her without anything to do except maybe care for her weapons.

The kunoichi hadn't been able to find out many details about her first opponent, Aburame Shino, except that he could control the chakra-eating insects that lived in his body. And even that she'd only been able to learn thanks to Neji's byakugan and bugging some of the boy's former classmates whenever she was lucky enough to run into them.

Since she hadn't been able to see him fight, all she had to go on were others' impressions of him, which suggested that he had some decent skills and was an excellent strategist, but with no exceptional strengths or weaknesses; in other words, exactly what one would expect from a candidate in the final round of the chunin exams. The boy would clearly be no pushover, despite being only seven months out of the Academy.

And he would probably be her least difficult fight. Between Lee, who she _still _couldn't believe had actually managed to beat Neji, Naruto, that frightening redhead from Suna, and the final member of the team of so-called super-ninja Iwa had sent, her chances of actually winning the tournament were practically nonexistent.

Of course, the weapons expert still had every intention to make a good showing of herself. She'd gone through the Academy and a full year and a half of active duty, despite the disadvantage of having no clan (or really anyone) to support her and a lack of any outstanding talent, with the goal of one day becoming a ninja on par with Tsunade of the Sannin. There just wasn't time for slacking off.

That was why she'd pushed herself this past month, harder than ever before. After going over her skills, Tenten had spotted a gaping flaw: she knew absolutely no ninjutsu beyond the basics. She had gotten lucky though, and was fortunate enough to find help with expanding her ability in that particular field. Asuma-sensei had apparently sent all three of his students off to train with other teachers, leaving him free and happy to instruct her.

When they'd tested her elemental alignment, the kunoichi had another stroke of luck; while her primary chakra nature turned out to be fire, she also discovered a strong secondary affinity for lightning, something that went perfectly with all the metal weapons she used.

Her one-on-one time with the bearded jonin had also helped her to improve in the area of strategy and battle tactics. He'd taught her how to quickly and accurately read a situation, how to influence an opponent's actions and control the flow of a battle. He had also shown the ambitious genin other things that, while they didn't directly increase her combat potential, would mean the difference between victory and defeat in many fights.

All in all, the brown-eyed girl was pretty confident of her chances for making chunin, but still... she felt... Lonely.

Whenever she saw teams seven or eight, whether during the joint training sessions or just hanging out together in the village, she couldn't help the pangs of jealousy at their close bonds. Even though they'd been together a full year longer than the younger genin, Tenten still had yet to develop those same sort of bonds with her own teammates. Neji, for all his prodigious skill, had the personality of an ice cube, and Lee was just, well Lee.

The girl sighed as she unsealed her second katana and got to work polishing and sharpening it. Her entire time at the Academy had been spent training and working as hard as she could to keep up with a schedule designed for students with outside help, so when they'd been put in teams, she had been excited at the prospect of finally making friends.

But over the months, that excitement had waned due to their sensei all but adopting one teammate and the lone wolf nature of the other. She had dealt with her frustration by throwing herself even more heavily into training, but her rate of growth never went beyond the slow crawl it had always been. Once, she had even thought about giving up, turning in her resignation and using her self-taught forging skills plus the money she'd saved up to open a small shop, to spend the rest of her life making kunai.

Surprisingly enough, it had been the cold Hyuuga who had spotted her troubles and brought her to her senses. It had been the middle of winter, and they'd just had a rare snowfall the day before, when he'd come up to her during morning training. Lee and Gai-sensei had been absorbed in their usual insanity, kicking snow-boulders (as they were much too large to be called balls) back and forth in a training exercise that vaguely resembled a a soccer game, if soccer had just two players and five balls each about six feet wide.

Neji had just walked up to her, casually twisting out of the way of a snow-boulder gone off-course, and he'd spent almost a minute just looking at her, white eyes studying her. It had been perhaps the tensest minute in her entire life. Then he'd spoken, in his usual firm voice, "You may not be fated for greatness, Tenten, but I do not believe you are meant to be a failure either. Until you accept yourself for what you are, the emotions you are feeling will continue to plague you."

Suddenly, the loud shouts of the two taijutsu maniacs had seemed to fade into the distance, and it had felt like the pale boy in front of her was the only other thing in the world, him and the snow, blending so perfectly with his clothes and eyes. "What am I?" she had asked back, after what felt like an eternity of silence.

More silence, before he'd replied simply, "Even my eyes cannot see everything."

"Why are you doing this?" she could remember asking him after another long pause.

Then he'd glanced off to the side, and to this day the bun-haired girl swore she had seen him crack a smile. "I would much prefer not to be left alone with them."

That had been the start of what she liked to think of as her love/hate relationship with Hyuuga Neji. She was in love with him, the boy who had spoken to her that day in the snow but at the same time hated the cold superiority he always used to shield himself.

She still didn't know what he was hiding from. Her mind had come up with a multitude of possible reasons for why he was the way he was. None had any basis in fact or sometimes even reason, but the young genius still wasn't any closer to sharing his obviously troubled past with his team. Gai-sensei knew, whatever it was, but the man, for all his boisterous yelling, could shut closed tighter than a steel trap when he wanted to. Occasionally, she'd considered just asking Neji about it, but the Hyuuga weren't known for being open and friendly.

Tenten's only clue into her teammate's mysterious life had come to her relatively recently, when they'd taken up Asuma-sensei on his offer of joint training. Never before had she seen a look of hate on his face, until she saw him glaring at Hinata. It made her wonder what possible reason he could have for feeling such an intense emotion towards such a polite, quiet, kind girl; the whole thing just didn't make sense.

And even an idiot could pick up on the way the senseis always took care to separate the two Hyuugas. Really, her best bet was to talk to Hinata and see what she knew about her cousin, but she'd held off, at first because she just didn't know the shy girl well enough, and later because she'd been busy preparing for the exams. Maybe sometime in the coming few weeks, after the finals were over and promotions were handed out, she could track down her fellow kunoichi and ask her some questions...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Oi, Naruto! You need to stay calm and focused, or the whole thing'll fall apart!" the sage reminded him while busily inscribing more seals on the ground.

It took a huge effort to keep himself from getting angry at the man. "I know, damn it. But that's kinda hard to do right now. How much longer?" he asked for what seemed like the thousandth time. Nearby, shielded from sight only by the tall stone wall the Sannin had erected, he could hear people... his friends... fighting for their lives.

The sealmaster took a moment to reply. "...I'm getting there."

Rather than shout at him for yet another vague response, the blonde distracted himself by thinking about other things, like how the hell he'd gotten into this situation. Just hours ago it had been a totally unremarkable day, he'd been on his way to find Ero-sennin for training, then everything had gone to hell.

A ninja, decked out in full ANBU gear, had leapt right across Naruto's path and slammed a paper seal over his stomach before darting off, all too quickly and suddenly for him to react. The paper seal had burnt to ashes almost instantly, as his world exploded in pain.

His next clear memory had been of Jiraiya hurriedly drawing a sealing circle around him, saying that something had disrupted the shiki fuujin, and a group of unknown attackers were making their way towards their location.

The young shinobi's sharp ears picked up the sound of Ino screaming in pain, and he savagely quashed the impulse to leap over the wall and help her. If he left the circle now, there was no telling what would happen.

A few seconds later, he felt another chakra signature vanish and hoped with all his being that it wasn't someone he knew; it was impossible to tell amidst the chaos.

Right, deep breaths, stay calm. The only way this whole thing could get worse was if the Kyuubi managed to get a foothold in his mind.

Just then someone came crashing through the wall. The person, dark-haired and wearing the standard Konoha jonin uniform, slammed into the chakra barrier the Sannin had set up, before landing face-up on the ground. It was Asuma-sensei.

He wasn't moving.

Naruto stood there, frozen, before another burst of pain wracked his body, crimson chakra flaring up around him, urging him to take its delicious power and slaughter the attackers.

No, he had to stay calm, focused.

His sensei's lifeless eyes stared up at him.

No. No, think about ramen, about eating at Ichiraku's. The way it tasted, smelled. The feel of the hot soup pouring down his throat. The sound of Teuchi and Ayame's voices as they asked about his day.

"Got it!" The boy's mind snapped back to the present just as Jiraya activated the sealing circle.

And the world around him shattered.

Naruto caught himself just in time to keep from landing flat on his stomach. Breathing heavily, hunched over on all fours, he felt his real memories reassert themselves. It was the day before the chunin exam finals, he'd warned Lee about Gaara and given him the seal before meeting up with Ero-sennin...

Blue eyes glared up harshly at the large man. "What the _fuck_ was that?" he spat out, internally surprised at just how calmly he spoke.

"Your emotional control test," his sensei answered simply. "Congratulations, you passed. Now, moving on-"

"No! No way in hell do you get to fuck around with my mind like that and act like it's nothing!" He was on his feet now, trembling with rage. Before he even knew what he was doing, the blonde ninja had launched himself at the man, determined to pound his face in, Sannin or not.

Jiraiya's fist shot out, impossibly fast, and he had to bite back a shout of pain as three of his ribs snapped like twigs from the force. He flew backwards through at least three trees before finally stopping on collision with a cliff face.

Naruto's vision swam for a second as he pulled himself out of the indentation in the rock, landing somewhat shakily on his feet. The sage stood a few yards away, an unfamiliar hard look in his eyes. "Moving on, it's time for your final test. You have until midnight to land a hit on me."

The short time the man spent talking was enough for his healing to kick in, so the genin was no longer on the verge of blacking out. His ribs would take a few minutes still, but adding extra chakra reinforcement to the area would let him fight without risking a punctured lung.

Something was weird. The Sannin had never been... harsh like this before. Unfortunately, he had no time to think over the unusual behavior, because a sharp chakra flare was the only warning he had before a gout of flame was launched his way. The blonde went through the necessary handseals as fast as he could.

"**Doton: doryuheki"** (earth element: earth wall)

The stone barrier rose up just in time to block the worst of the attack, though some of the flames still licked at his face painfully.

Naruto knew that his only hope of actually hitting the white-haired shinobi was to come at him with everything he had for as long as he could and get very very lucky. He quickly formed two kage bunshins before going straight into the seals for the kaze no yaiba.

The wind blade went straight through his wall, and he heard his sensei jump up and back to dodge it. Then the clones on either side of him released the fuuton daitoppas they'd been signing for, launching the top part of the wall straight at their airborne target.

But Jiraiya instantly formed a rasengan and blasted the oversized projectile to pieces. The blonde rushed forward to launch another attack at the still-falling man, until his instincts warned him of an incoming fist, and he was just barely able to dodge the punch from the iwa bunshin he hadn't even known was there.

It was about a second of fast-paced twisting, rolling, and ducking to avoid blows that would make that first hit feel like a love tap before his clones were able to form their own rasengan and destroy the attacker. As it exploded into shards of rock, the young ninja realized it had served its purpose, giving its creator ample time to return to the ground and launch another attack. This time there was a boulder, about ten feet across, hurtling towards him. With its speed and size, he wouldn't be able to dodge.

"**Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!"**

Shadow clones sacrificed themselves by the dozen in an effort to slow the boulder down. Then Naruto, working together with five more of himself, brushed aside the phantom pain of being crushed to death over and over again and caught the flying mass of stone, flinging it right back the way it had come.

This time, he charged right behind his attack, a kage bunshin running alongside him to form a rasengan. Being the creature of habit he was, the Sannin shattered this rock the same way he had the last one, leaving him open as the blonde charged straight through the dust and flying debris. But again Jiraiya was just too fast for him, a powerful hand grabbing his wrist and throwing him so hard he dislocated his shoulder.

Hardening his body with chakra to minimize the damage from whatever he might crash through, Naruto popped his right arm back in place as his mind quickly formulated his next attack. He would be here a while.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As the slow, steady beeping of the heart monitor penetrated the silence, she felt like she finally understood why Naruto hated hospitals. Ino sat at the bedside of her best friend, searching for the right words to express her thoughts to the comatose girl.

The blonde kunoichi had already visited Sakura several times this month, spending hours just talking about all sorts of different things, just like they might were she awake. The neat new clothes that had come out a couple weeks ago, some of the more interesting customers who'd come in during her shifts at the shop, and even her budding feelings towards her teammate. The only difference was that her pink-haired friend never said anything back.

But this time, with the finals just a day away, the Yamanaka heiress knew she needed to talk about the one thing she'd avoided. Sakura herself.

"I'm sorry!" she eventually blurted out, and everything that followed came in one long rush. "I know I shouldn't, I mean it's not my fault, not really, but I feel guilty for you being like this. Yeah, it was that bastard Uchiha who did it, but I feel like... like I pushed you. Pushed you into fighting him. I probably did in a way, me and Naruto and Kiba. We were the ones who encouraged you, and if only you hadn't fought Sasuke...

"I can't believe I used to think I was in love with that jerk! Both of us, we were idiots back in the Academy. Breaking our friendship over something as silly as a boy? And just look how that same boy is turning out, what he did to you!"

Calming down from her sudden outburst, the words stopped spilling out quite so fast. "...But you know, I never felt as proud of you as I did when you fought him. I just wish... Oh, what am I doing? If you were awake right now, you'd probably bonk me over the head and tell me just how much of an idiot I'm being, blaming myself like this. It was _your_ choice to stand up to him, to show everyone how much you'd grown, and it was a good choice, no doubt about that. _He _was the one who lost control of himself, and tomorrow he'll pay for that."

The blonde paused, not sure how to continue. It was so much harder to talk when the other person never said anything back. "I hope you wake up soon." She reached out and took Sakura's hand in her own, gripping it lightly in the hope that maybe, just maybe...

Her best friend remained just as lifeless as she been every time before. Ino sighed. "I miss you."

Only the rhythmic beeping answered her.

Needing to talk about _something_, the young kunoichi brought up the first thing that came to mind. "Hey, remember that jutsu I was telling you about, the one my dad was teaching me? Well I finally got the hang of it! Just two days ago, as a matter of fact. Dad was really proud of me, and I can't wait to surprise my team..."

That got her going again, and for the next hour or so she just sat there talking to the pink-haired girl about whatever came to mind. Eventually, one of the nurses stopped by to let her know visiting hours were almost over. Ino thanked him and started to leave, before turning back one last time, "Goodnight, Sakura. If things go well tomorrow, I might be a chunin by the time you wake up." With that hopeful thought in mind, she walked out, closing the door gently behind her.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Looking on as his student struggled back to his feet for what must have been at least the hundredth time in the past few hours, Jiraiya had to hide his amazement at the boy's sheer stubbornness and willpower. By now, his accelerated healing had been working so long and hard that it no longer patched him up as efficiently or effectively, but he was still pushing his body to the same level regardless.

Impossible as it sounded, the brat had actually managed to improve during the middle of the fight. Once he'd managed to form a rasengan with the aid of his kage bunshin, the Sannin had given him the final scroll of forms for Minato's dancing wave fist, the ones centered around maintaining a double rasengan and using spinning and thrusting motions to hit enemies with the deadly spheres. Naruto had practiced the forms daily, but he'd not been able to keep two of the A-rank jutsu going at once, until he'd suddenly gotten the hang of it about an hour ago.

It was amazing, certainly, but it still wasn't enough. The sage needed to know what his apprentice could do when truly pushed; he had to know how far he could go right now, because there was no telling when Akatsuki would come for him.

He'd hoped that the sheer desperation of the impossible task he'd set combined with the mental strain from the previous test and the heavy physical beatdown would have been enough, but apparently not. If he really wanted to see what Naruto was capable of, it seemed he would have to take things to an extreme. They were running out of time.

Jiraiya sighed mentally, hoping the boy would be able to forgive him for what he was about to do. "I never told you what'll happen if you fail, did I?"

Clear blue eyes looked at him silently, waiting. The boy and his clones stayed ready but didn't move to attack, even though the twin balls of destruction were now fully-formed in his hands.

The experienced shinobi took a moment to be sure his emotions were firmly locked away before continuing. A month with the blonde had taught him that a bluff wouldn't work; he had to actually mean what he said, or Naruto would see through it clear as day. "If you can't land even one hit on me before midnight, I'll kill you. Then, I'll go into the village, find your teammates Yamanaka Ino and Inuzuka Kiba, and kill them. I'll kill those two at the ramen stand, that little redhead you adopted, all your friends, everyone you've ever talked to me about. Fail here, and they all die."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

At first, Naruto wasn't sure how to react. It made no sense! Killing everyone because of some test?

But it didn't have to make sense, because it was true. He could see it in the man's eyes. Fail here, and everyone he cared about would die.

That _was not_ an option.

It didn't matter what sick reason the person before him had for his actions, the only thing that mattered was that he could stop it, _would_ stop it.

In his eerily calm state of mind, the young ninja could feel... something... resting deep within himself. Something powerful, but not the Kyuubi. And so he reached down, grabbed tight hold of that power, and _pulled_.

The sensations that followed were instantly familiar, though he had only felt them once before. It was the same transformation he'd gone through on that nightmarish mission two months ago. Naruto could still remember what it had felt like back then, the raw strength flowing calmly through him, so different from the Fox's burning power.

But brute force alone wouldn't be enough this time. If he wanted an actual chance of hitting Jiraiya, he'd need more than just the instinct and emotion that had driven him then. Still not entirely sure what he was doing, the boy willed the transformation to stop and was more than a bit surprised when it did.

Naruto took stock of himself. The most obvious physical change was the large thick golden-furred tail, a good bit longer than he was tall, now waving back and forth behind him, his body having instinctively adjusted to the added weight thanks to the rigorous balancing exercises he'd gone through recently. His fingernails, still cupped around the two swirling blue orbs of chakra, had lengthened and hardened into sharp claws.

All the injuries he'd gotten throughout the battle, broken bones that hadn't fully mended, cuts and bruises that never quite finished healing, were gone. He felt strong and full of energy, his chakra flowing faster, thicker, and more smoothly than he could ever remember. All his senses had become significantly sharper, the world around him crystal-clear. It felt like the world around him had slowed down, his eyes tracking a single speck of dust as it was pushed about by tiny invisible air currents.

The demon was also... louder... than usual. Closer to the surface of his mind, he guessed, but it was something he could deal with for now.

Now, there was a pervert in desperate need of having his ass kicked, followed by some serious explaining to do.

Dashing forward at a speed he wouldn't have even been able to follow just moments ago, the young ninja saw his opponent's eyes widen in surprise as he went for a straight thrust with his right arm, testing to see how he matched up against the man in taijutsu with this new power boost.

Jiraiya leapt back to avoid the attack, and the blonde decided to give his new appendage a try. Repositioning his feet, he spun in a full circle, his tail lashing out powerfully.

It was blocked by the Sannin's crossed arms, doing no actual damage, but the momentum sent the large man soaring, just as he had done to Naruto countless times throughout the day.

The legendary ninja apparently decided to take things up another several notches then, as his mind only just registered him making the seals for the guokakyu no jutsu before a giant ball of white-hot fire was hurtling towards him. Trusting his instincts over his common sense, the boy leapt straight into the inferno. His tail wrapped tightly around him, throbbing with chakra, and shielded him from the blaze. He felt the heat against the golden fur, but it wasn't even singed when he came out the other side.

He couldn't locate his opponent, the man having used the brief moment he was in the center of the fire to take cover in the trees. Naruto quickly ran through the seals for one of his favorite wind jutsu, pumping as much chakra into it as he could.

"**Fuuton: daitoppa!"** (wind element: great breakthrough)

Hurricane-force winds tore through the trees in front of him, leveling a wide swath of trees. He immediately followed this up by summoning 300 kage bunshins, who spread out to search the devastated section of forest he could still feel the man's chakra coming from.

A sudden chakra spike beneath his feet had the blonde launching himself into the air. Just in time, too, as the whole area turned into a swamp, sucking in his clones and dispelling them. As he received his duplicates' memories, he noted that they hadn't gotten even a quarter as much as he had out of the power boost, meaning they'd be more useful for distraction and tricks than the usual support role.

His problem of not being able to find his opponent was then solved when the man's geta-clad foot slammed into his face. It hurt, but not as much as it should have, and the damage was almost fully-healed by the time he got to his feet at the center of the small impact crater he'd made on hitting the ground. This time, he also managed to keep his senses trained on Jiraiya.

There was less than a half hour left before midnight. Now that Naruto had gotten a hang of his new capabilities, it was time to pick up the pace. His tail snatched up the top half of a tree that he'd crashed through on his way down, hurling it at the Sannin at a fast clip. When it got close, he used a kawarimi, the rasnegan the man had prepared to blast the tree with (really, he was too predictable sometimes) going right over his head.

In the few hundredths of a second that followed, the blonde threw a spinning kick with his right leg, knowing it wouldn't connect, but it hid the handseals he was making. His tail moved automatically to counter the kick his opponent had thrown at him.

Sure enough, his foot stopped dead against Jiraiya's palm, though the force behind the blow made him slide back a tiny bit.

"**Fuuton: Kaze Kakuheki"** (wind element: wind barrier wall)

Used at such close range, the protective sphere of wind served to push each of the Sannin's limbs in a different direction, leaving him wide open. Naruto went straight from the last seal of his jutsu into the seal for an iwa bunshin, the stable clone that formed right behind him acting as a perfect jumping platform. Before his opponent had time to get his guard back up, the boy had launched forward, ramming his head straight into the man's gut.

Jiraiya was knocked onto his back and skidded along the ground, coming to a stop some thirty meters away. The "test" passed, the young ninja let loose his rage, reaching the downed man in the blink of an eye, the golden tail pressing down powerfully across his chest, pinning him to the ground.

"I hit you. Now what the fucking hell was this about, Jiraiya?" Naruto growled, not feeling the least bit friendly towards the white-haired nin at the moment. The only reason he hadn't yet torn the sage's throat out was because the man _always_ had a reason for the things he did.

"I- I had to- see- what you were capable of. How far you'd go- when everything was at risk," the man gasped out, apparently having some trouble breathing. He honestly didn't care.

The blonde wasn't done yet. "And you couldn't have done that some other way? You had to threaten my friends? What if I hadn't been able to do it? Huh?" he roared The pressure from his tail increased, cracks spreading along the earth even with the chakra he was feeding through it to keep the Sannin from escaping that way.

Jiraiya's face contorted in pain. Good. "I knew- ugh- you'd pass -gah- Would've let you hit me -urk- if it came down to it."

While still not willing to forgive him, the genin could get what the man was saying. He took slow deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. The transformation slipped away, and he was left tired and aching.

The sage sat up. "Naruto, I'm sorry. You should know I-"

"Shut up," the boy muttered, too exhausted to even glare. "You crossed a line today, and its gonna take a helluva lot to make up for that. I'll still learn from you, but don't expect me to treat you like a friend. I'm going home now. Good night, Jiraiya-sensei."

With those parting words, he trudged off back towards the village, more than ready to get back to his bed and go to sleep. After all, it would be a big day tomorrow.

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comments:

Another chapter done. This one was rather interesting for me to write, because going into it, I had no clear plan for what would happen. Naruto needed to warn Lee and have his tests, but that was really it. Tenten and Ino's scenes were pretty much spontaneous, and I feel that they turned out pretty well.

In the first scene, I'd originally intended to have Naruto talk for a bit about the Bijuu and how he'd done some research to find out which one Gaara held and whatnot, but every time I tried to type it, it just didn't come out right. So I opted to summarize and move on. Other than that, I really like writing the Green Beasts because they're a great opportunity for some light-hearted humor.

I think my favorite scene in this chapter was Tenten's. I knew I'd have to put her in at some point, if only because she's so painfully underdeveloped in canon (seriously, she doesn't even have a family name), and I decided to go the route of making her an orphan rather than the more common daughter of a weapon shop owner because it fits in better with some things I have planned. I'd like to think I did a good job establishing her character, but that's up for you to decide.

Ino's visit to Sakura was mostly filler, since their relationship was settled back at the tower, but I still felt it was important to show her visiting, since that's what a friend would do. I'm not quite satisfied with how quickly Ino resolved her guilt, but all my attempts to extend that bit felt clunky and made her seem a bit whiny.

Finally we have Naruto and Jiraiya, which was the main focus of this chapter. The idea for that final test, having to hit him once or else he'd kill Naruto's friends, was something I got from another story. Unfortunately, I read it so long ago that I can't remember the title. EDIT: Thank you, Just in Jest for reminding me that the story was "Naruto: Altered History" by Geor-sama

About Naruto's fox form, or at least the partial one he enters here, it'll basically serve as a replacement for Kyuubi's chakra when things get dire, since Naruto adamantly refuses to have anything to do with the fox. That said, don't expect it to show up very often, as I think I've demonstrated that he's quite competent without having to rely on any sort of power boost.

When it comes to Jiraiya and his actions in this chapter, he's been shown in canon to have a tendency to take things to extremes when taking a hands-on approach to training (throwing Naruto off a cliff to get him to summon and use the Kyuubi's chakra, loosening the seal during the timeskip). This is just another example of that, only this time he chooses the one thing Naruto won't forgive so easily when he threatens the people he cares about. And just to clarify, when Naruto had him pinned down at the end, he could have gotten away, but not without causing him serious injury.

Also, a virtual cookie to anyone who gets the reference in the chapter title.

I hope you all enjoyed reading!

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beta readers: ABitterPill, Orion, ching965


	30. dogfight

**chapter 30**

**dogfight**

Konohagakure no Sato was in full celebratory mode, people milling about excitedly under the morning sun, a handful of dignitaries making their last-minute arrivals through the main gate.

How many of them would still be alive when that sun set, Kabuto wondered idly. It was too bad he wouldn't be able to count. Moving silently and swiftly, he landed unnoticed behind one of the ANBU watching traffic, sliding his kunai up into the ninja's brain stem for a noiseless, instant kill. Not his preferred method, but he had to keep the risk of discovery to a minimum.

The spy acted quickly, forming a subtle genjutsu to divert attention away from his location. He then stripped the body (female, approx. 27-31 yrs. 173.4 cm, one long scar of indeterminate age running diagonally from her left shoulder down to her right hip, short brown hair, black eyes) before sealing it in a scroll. Putting the equipment and uniform on over his own clothes, he deactivated the genjutsu just in time to avoid attracting suspicion from another masked shinobi who glanced over from their position stationed on a rooftop around forty meters away.

Infiltration successful, now it was time to wait. At least there would be some interesting battles for him to watch soon.

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Shiranui Genma grumbled under his breath as he tuned out Hokage-sama's welcoming speech. Stupid Hayate taking on one of the contestants as a student. While anyone who was actually familiar with the sickly kenjutsu expert knew he wouldn't have shown favoritism, that did nothing to soothe the daimyos and other nobles present. So he'd been roped into taking his friend's place.

Chewing thoughtfully on his disguised senbon, the jonin looked over the young ninjas lined up behind him with a critical eye. And "young" was certainly the key word when it came to describing this year's batch of chunin hopefuls, every one of them either twelve or thirteen. They were all here on time at least, which was actually something of a surprise, given that two of them were Kakashi's kids.

Seeing the Hokage sit back down, he realized it was his turn. "All right, you lot," the man said as he turned to face the gathered genin, "the rules are the same as in the preliminaries. One-on-one matches, no-holds-barred, until one of the contestants can't fight anymore or I call a stop.

"Killing, while allowed, is discouraged," he added on, locking a steady gaze onto each of the three competitors who had killed or tried to kill their opponents previously. The Uchiha and the two foreign nins made no reaction. "Understood?"

Nine young heads nodded in acknowledgment. "Good." With a simple handseal, he activated the voice amplification seals built into the lower part of the arena, before facing the crowd. "It is time for the first match. Would all contestants except for Inuzuka Kiba and Kenzo of Iwa please clear the floor?"

The seven other shinobi walked to the stairs, the Uzumaki and Yamanaka pausing briefly to give their teammate some quiet words of encouragement. If even half of the rumors Genma had heard about team seven was to be believed, Asuma had done some amazing work with those kids. Still, the Stone boy had already proven himself to be both brutal and powerful, so he would stay ready to interrupt the fight should things get out of hand.

Having moved about ten yards apart and now facing each other, the two remaining fighters stood ready. The taller Iwa nin gave his opponent a condescending smirk, "Prepared to get crushed?"

"Bring it," the Inuzuka growled back, his canine partner leaping from his jacket to stand next to him.

Now they were just waiting for his signal. "First match, Inuzuka Kiba versus Kenzo of Iwa, start!" Both boys rushed in as soon as the word left his lips, moving at speeds that were quite impressive given that they were still genin. The untrained spectators probably saw little more than blurs.

The expected clash never happened. As the foreign ninja threw a powerful punch at his opponent's chest, the feral boy sprang well to the side, revealing his dog, who had been following immediately behind, in mid-leap at his face.

As the Iwa shinobi dove forward to avoid the small but deadly teeth and claws, Genma held back a chuckle when the white puppy used the clan's "dynamic marking" technique, urinating on the boy's head and back. The human member of the duo, while still in midair, threw a pair of kunai to intercept the taller boy on landing, forcing him to pull a bit of fancy acrobatics to keep from getting stabbed.

It was a good opening move, the jonin mused, but the Inuzuka wouldn't be able to pull something like that again. The other boy would be ready for him to break off an attack at the last moment from now on.

Well, he could probably relax a little, since neither fighter was dominating the match. Genma would have fair warning if either one got in serious danger.

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"YEAH! Go Kiba!" Naruto shouted, bouncing on the balls of his feet next to his female teammate.

"That'll show him for underestimating Konoha ninja!" Ino called out at a less deafening volume, lacking the ridiculous lung capacity of the spiky-haired blonde.

The Iwa genin retaliated less than a second after the embarrassing opening assault, letting out a roar of frustration as he launched himself at the shorter boy, nearly twice as fast as before. A short jump preceded a savage axe kick powerful enough to shatter the ground around the point of impact.

Had the Inuzuka not dodged, his skull would have been crushed. But just as they'd planned a month ago, he'd improved his agility drastically, and the attack didn't even come close to hitting. "What's the matter, did we _piss_ you off?" he taunted.

Actually wanting to be heard this time, the kunoichi used some chakra to make herself louder, "Good one, Kiba!" Next to her, Naruto had burst out in laughter at the pun, along with many of the spectators, and for a moment she thought she saw Shino crack a smile. Eh, must've been her imagination.

Back down on the arena floor, the taller boy started another head-on charge, then switched to a zigzag pattern halfway through when the Inuzuka threw two handfuls of shuriken at him. When he got close, he started to form handseals, only for Akamaru to suddenly dart in and distract him just as he was about to release his jutsu. The white puppy's small size let him get in and out without being hit by the boy's retaliatory knife-hand strike.

Kiba worked hard to keep the fight close range, he and his canine partner focusing on dodging the Iwa nin's attacks whenever the other genin went on the offensive, and switching to hit-and-run tactics when he tried to make space to use a ninjutsu. Despite chasing each other all over the arena, neither boy actually seemed to be getting anywhere. They'd been fighting for over ten minutes now, and the only thing they had to show for it were a few light bruises and scratches.

Most of the audience, Ino noted, had been drawn in by the action-filled battle. A good number of them had risen to their feet for a better view, ooh-ing and aah-ing as they tried to follow the high-speed combat.

The Yamanaka, however, just couldn't figure out what the hell her teammate was up to. Sure, he was staying in control of the flow of the battle, just like Asuma-sensei had taught them, but he wasn't really doing anything. He had to have realized that the power difference between himself and his opponent was too big for his current strategy to yield any results, but he was still stubbornly keeping to it. The Iwa nin was too well-trained to hope he'd slip up, so unless Kiba had something else planned, he would eventually exhaust himself and take a direct hit from the other boy's unnaturally powerful taijutsu.

As if in response to the thought, her teammate was barely in time to leap away from another devastating blow, stumbling slightly on landing. Ino narrowed her eyes in suspicion; there was no way he was getting fatigued already. Six months of being on a team with Naruto the stamina freak had done a great deal for both of them in that regard, doing their best every day to keep up with the shorter and impossibly energetic blonde. If the dog-boy was actually tired, she was a penguin!

"Well that's unexpectedly clever," the girl commented.

Her remaining teammate glanced over at her, bright blue eyes curious, "Hmm?" Before she had time to respond, he too took a brief scrutinizing look at the two fighters, instantly spotting exactly the same thing. "Ah! Yeah, I wouldn've thought Kiba'd do somethin' like that."

"Like what?" Tenten asked from her other side.

"He's faking the exhaustion," she enlightened her fellow kunoichi. "Probably going to let one of that guy's attacks hit, then catch him off-guard with something powerful."

"Is he insane?" the bun-haired girl questioned, when one of the Stone genin's punches struck the arena wall, causing a small explosion.

Naruto immediately jumped to his teammate's defense. "Hey, Kiba's a tough guy. Besides, his opponent doesn't hit that much harder than me an' Fuzzy-brows... combined," he added, a bit worriedly, upon seeing the size of the resulting crater.

The weapon-user frowned. "It's still a crazy plan."

"His strategy is reasonable," Shino spoke up from behind them, making all three genin jump. "Why? Because his opponent has proven himself to be one who is not affected by ordinary attacks."

Finally, the Inuzuka was a bit slow to dodge, taking a devastating haymaker to his right shoulder. Despite twisting with the blow to minimize the damage, he still soared more than halfway across the arena. Akamaru instantly moved in front of his downed partner.

The Iwa shinobi was walking confidently towards the pair. "Hah, now you see the difference between us, Konoha scum. Hurry up and forfeit before I beat you to death!" Kiba was hunched over in pain, cradling his injured arm.

From her angle, Ino could see what the dog-nin's opponent couldn't: he was holding himself that way to hide the string of handseals he was slowly forming. "You really think... I'm gonna give up... 'cause you got one hit? You're even more of an idiot than my teammate!"

"HEY!" Naruto shouted from right next to her, leaving her ears ringing from the volume.

"Besides," the feral boy continued, as if the interruption hadn't happened, "why the hell should I quit... when I've got you right where I want you!" With that final shout, he turned to face the taller genin, hands holding the last seal.

"**Raiton: shibari ori" **(lightning element: binding cage)

And that was when Kiba's real purpose behind chasing his opponent all over the arena was revealed. The weapons he'd been throwing throughout the match were in fact arranged in a wide circle, with a single kunai in the center. Crackling streams of electricity connected the circle then converged in the middle, shooting up into the sky in a huge lightning bolt five yards across. Ino could see her teammate trembling with effort as he forced his body past its limits with the massive amount of chakra he was pouring out.

The Inuzuka was able to hold the jutsu for nearly ten seconds while his chakra dropped to dangerously low levels, his opponent screaming in agony as the massive surge of electricity flowed through his body. Then it ended, and both boys were slumped over in exhaustion and pain, but still conscious.

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Groaning, his entire being wracked with pain as his senses slowly straightened themselves out, Kenzo took stock of his situation. All around him, the ground had been heavily charred by the overpowered lightning jutsu, and it would be at least a minute before he was recovered enough to move again. Fortunately, his opponent seemed to be in a similar state, having used an all-or-nothing attack right after his shoulder was shattered.

"Nice try... scum..." he taunted the Konoha nin. "But it wasn't... enough. Soon as I can walk again... I'm gonna come over there... and cut you wide open." His right hand fumbled around for a kunai.

The other boy grinned weakly, a dribble of blood falling from his mouth. He must have caused himself internal damage by using more chakra than his body could handle with the overpowered jutsu. "Go on then... Just make sure... t'kiss your ass goodbye... ...first... During my... little light show... Akamaru put a special exploding tag... on your back." A quick search was enough to spot the small dog over near the arena wall, his smoldering white fur and limping gait proof that he had indeed jumped into the lightning storm. "Move or channel chakra... and you'll be in a bunch'a... meaty chunks."

"You're bluffing," the Iwa genin called out, unable to keep a small trace of fear from his voice.

Black, slitted eyes stared back at him unflinchingly.

What the hell was going on here? He and his team were supposed to be the best of the best, specially chosen and trained since before they could even remember, shaped and molded to lead Iwagakure into a new age of glory! But now...

Shigure was dead, effortlessly crushed by that monster from Suna. While a loss, it was not something unexpected, her opponent being a freak of nature much like Han-sama.

Then Akira had his ninja career ended by the damn offspring of that Namikaze bastard, and they couldn't even retaliate because of fucking politics! More than that, Tsuchikage-sama had refused to authorize an assassination without "concrete evidence." Never mind the boy's family name, he looked exactly like his father and had been strong enough to beat Akira, who was more powerful than most jonins.

Now Kenzo too had been manipulated the entire fight by a no-name genin who should have been well below his level. This whole thing... it didn't make any sense! They were supposed to be unstoppable, the vanguard of a new era, but instead he'd had to watch his teammates fall one after another. It was like a terrible nightmare, and the black-eyed boy wished he could just wake up in his familiar, hard bunk, ready to begin another day of training.

But everything was just all too real, and despite all the lessons, the countless times it had been drilled into their heads that the pride of the Village far exceeds the value of a single ninja's life, Kenzo found that he didn't want to die. "I forfeit," he announced, hanging his head in shame.

And that was that. "Winner: Inuzuka Kiba!" he heard the proctor say, but it was muffled, like he was underwater, and the crowd's cheers were the same. Through blurry eyes, he could vaguely make out a team of medics coming in to take them off the field after the victor deactivated his exploding tag with a simple handseal. As he was led away, a distant part of the young shinobi's mind wondered why his cheeks were wet.

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Naruto gazed down at his male teammate as he lay in an infirmary bed, a medic, one he recognized from the preliminaries, hovering over the Inuzuka, slowly working to repair the mostly self-inflicted damage he'd taken during his match. "Wow, you look like shit," he stated bluntly from the foot of the bed.

"Heh, I still won though," Kiba replied, as the med-nin moved on to heal a minor chakra burn on his side.

"Yeah, great job on that," the blonde praised. "Especially your bluff at the end. I would've actually believed it if I hadn't caught a glimpse of the 'seal tag' as it was flapping around in Akamaru's mouth. You drew those scribbles yourself, didn't you?"

The dog-nin's eyes lowered in disappointment. "It wasn't that bad, was it? I did my best to copy a real exploding tag."

"Kiba, if that thing'd been a real seal and you activated it, the most likely result would be it burning away every single hair on your body." His friend cringed at the thought, then winced as the movement aggravated his injuries. "Hmm, that gives me an idea..."

"Huh?" the other boy questioned.

Still running possibilities through part of his mind, Naruto realized he hadn't yet gotten the chance to tell his teammate what his training had been like. "During the last month, Jiraiya started teaching me fuuinjutsu, so I'm tryin' to think how t'make a seal that'll cause someone's hair to change colors."

Even the med-nin looked at him like he was crazy. But hey, it wasn't that bad an idea! Not only would it make for a great prank, but the concept could be useful in battle, too. If an opponent had wacky-colored hair, or if he could figure out a way to make it shift constantly, spotting them in battle would be that much easier; not to mention that the chakra involved would give off a clear signal to anyone looking for it, and since chakra coils didn't extend to the hair it would be hard for the enemy to do anything about it.

"Should you really be telling me that when we could be going up against each other later today?" Kiba pointed out.

"Heh," Naruto boasted, "I could kick your ass with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back!"

The medic interrupted then for the first time as glowing hands moved over his patient's chest. "In my professional opinion, Inuzuka-san, you shouldn't be doing any more fighting for at least a week. While I have fixed the damage to your shoulder and restored full range of motion, it will take some time to fully heal. Putting too much strain on it will result in an even more severe injury.

"More than that, the stunt you pulled with that raiton jutsu has almost completely depleted your chakra reserves. I am in the process of healing the burns and damage to your coils, but you no longer have enough chakra left to fight effectively"

"Like hell am I gonna quit now!" the black-haired genin blurted out, "A bad shoulder isn't enough t'stop me, and Naruto can fill up my reserves no problem!"

"Your teammate has his own matches to think of, Inuzuka-san," the med-nin scolded.

The blonde momentarily directed his attention to the healer. "Nah, I've got more chakra than I know what t'do with, so that's not an issue. But..." he trailed off, turning back to Kiba with a teasing grin, "like you said, we could end up fighting, so what're you gonna give me in return?"

"Aww c'mon, that's no fair!" Kiba whined. "You've never charged us before!"

He just widened his grin.

After about five seconds, the Inuzuka relented. "Fine, I'll pay for your next meal at Ichiraku's."

Naruto tilted his head slightly, pretending to consider the offer. "Hmm... one meal, in exchange for completely refilling your chakra..." The pleading look on his friend's face was priceless, and the only thing keeping from bursting into laughter was that it would ruin the moment. "Sure."

He moved around to the side of the bed, opposite the med-nin whose name he still didn't know, and placed his hands over Kiba's stomach area, so the chakra could be absorbed more easily by his core. "This won't cause any problems, right?" he asked the medic, just to be sure.

"No, go ahead," the man answered simply.

Concentrating temporarily, the young ninja let his chakra flow out from his hands and into his friend's body. A second later, he saw the doctor's eyebrows rise slightly, as if in confusion. "What is it?"

"The moment you started the chakra flow," he replied after a brief silence, "his natural healing rate increased marginally." Blue eyes widened in surprise.

The Inuzuka grinned. "Seriously? Awesome!"

"Don't get too excited, it was only a minor change, barely noticeable, but it's something that bears looking into at a later date. My recommendation about your shoulder remains the same," the med-nin advised.

Great, another thing to mark him as _different._ Just what he needed.

Needing to get his mind off of such thoughts, the blonde said the first thing that came to his head, "I've got a clone watching Shino and Tenten's fight. Any messages you want me to pass on to our friends?"

"Sure," Kiba answered, before pausing to think of what to say. "Tell Ino thanks for cheering me on, Lee too I guess, though some of his shouts almost made me lose focus, and wish 'em both good luck in their matches, in case I'm not outta here in time. And if you can find Shikamaru in the stands, I need t'thank him for helping me with that strategy."

"Got it," Naruto replied and, seeing his teammate was finished, concentrated for a couple seconds to seallessly form a kage bunshin, so he wouldn't have to interrupt the chakra flow. Immediately after coming into existence, the replica dispelled himself, transferring the memories on to the one in the contestant box.

Another brief silence followed, and the orange-clad genin realized why he'd felt like something had been missing the whole conversation, or more accurately someone. "Hey, where's Akamaru? Is he okay?" While the canine was considerably tougher than his size would suggest, he'd also dived straight into that lightning storm at the end of the fight, just to make Kiba's bluff seem more authentic.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Hana-oneechan's patching him up a few rooms down," the Inuzuka told him, "And I'm good on chakra now, thanks for the refill."

"No problem," Naruto reassured his friend as he tapered off the chakra flow. "That raiton jutsu you used was awesome! Was it something you learned from Kakashi-sensei?" His eyes lit up in excitement as he remembered just how cool the jutsu had been.

Kiba grinned. "Yeah, he taught me that, and a few others too." The dog-nin paused, considering something, After a moment, he nodded slightly to himself, then looked straight at the blonde, seriousness etched into his gaze. "There's this one technique Sasuke ended up learning too, it's called Chidori..."

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author's comments:

Ugh, over five months since the last chapter. I apologize to all my readers for the long break. Not only was this chapter difficult and frustrating to write, I also had lots of things going on in my personal life.

Overall, I'm disappointed in the chapter. I originally planned on including more, like the match between Shino and Tenten, but it just never turned out right. Even Kiba's fight I had to just about completely rewrite once. But after such a long time, I figured it was better to accept something I wasn't fully satisfied with rather than spending forever on a part that just wouldn't come out right.

Anyway, next chapter will of course be Naruto vs. Sasuke, something I've been looking forward to writing for a long time now, so hopefully I won't have too much trouble writing it. I would promise to have the chapter out sooner than this one was, but every other time I've done that, I haven't been able to follow through.

Thank you all for reading, and have a good day.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

betas: ABitterPill, ching965


	31. for the sake of my friends

**chapter 31**

**for the sake of my friends**

Naruto walked through the hallways leading back to the arena, delaying as long as possible now that Shino and Tenten's match was over, the weapon-using kunoichi having won after a hard fight. He wanted as much extra time as possible to decide how best to deal with Sasuke; all that stuff he'd learned from Kiba would need to be taken into account now. Plus, he was also taking his time so his teammate would miss as little of the fight as possible. The medic, whose name they'd finally learned was Hibari Kotaro, had said he wanted to keep the Inuzuka for another five minutes or so, just to be sure everything was okay.

The young genin was drawn from his thoughts by the presence of two men waiting for him, both with Kusa headbands. "Hey kid, hold up a sec," the one on the left called out, while leaning against the wall in what was to all outward appearances a casual manner.

"What d'you want? I've got a match to get to," the blonde told them, already suspicious of the pair.

"Yeah, about that," the other spoke up, "you probably don't know this, but tournaments like these Chunin Exams are great for betting; a lot of the nobles come here for that very reason."

The orange-clad shinobi could already see where this was going, but he decided to let them talk anyway.

Then the first one picked up right where his partner had left off. "Our employer put a lot of money on the Uchiha winning, so..."

"Would you mind losing this match?"

Naruto's response was immediate. "Like hell. Sorry, but whoever you work for is about t'lose all that money."

Instantly, the not-so-subtle threatening aura the pair were putting off became even less subtle. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to make sure you can't win," goon number two said, a kunai appearing in his hand.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Chewing on his toothpick in annoyance, Genma glanced up at the contestant box again impatiently. The Uzumaki boy had vanished almost right after the last fight ended, but it had been three minutes since then still with no sign of him.

Just as he was thinking that, the short blonde came out of the stairs at a fast jog and headed straight for the jonin, completely ignoring his waiting opponent.

"Hey proctor-jonin-toothpick-guy-san! Before we start could you send a medic team back that way?" he asked while gesturing wildly over his shoulder, "Y'see when I was on my way down there were these two guys an' I'm pretty sure they were genin which is weird 'cause I didn't know genin got bodyguard missions for nobles. Anyway they were all like "throw the fight," an' I said no so they attacked me but like I said I didn't think they'd be that weak so I kinda hit 'em a bit too hard so I'm worried I might've really hurt 'em so if you could send someone to check and make sure they'll be okay that'd probably be good."

Genma just stared blankly for a second, amazed that the small boy had said all that at once without even having to take a deep breath. Then the actual words registered, and he looked to the standby medic team and made a few quick hand signals, telling them to go check it out.

But the kid was right that genin were never assigned to the rich nobles, which meant the two he'd so effortlessly taken out were indeed chunin. Interesting.

A quick glance back at the young shinobi, who had already moved to his starting position across from the Uchiha, and the proctor froze. All the wild energy and excitement that had filled the boy just a moment ago was gone, as though it had never existed at all. In its was a calm intensity, twin sapphire orbs burning, locked on to his opponent.

Suddenly, any doubt about who would win the match was erased from the jonin's mind.

"Sasuke," the blonde spoke, the seals in place spreading the single word out to the entire audience. Everyone fell silent.

"What you did to Sakura," he continued, "was unforgivable."

The taller boy gazed back calmly. "Is that why you're trying to act all serious? Because I beat up your crush?"

"I grew out of that a while ago. And don't try to minimize it: you didn't just beat her up, you put your teammate in a coma." Genma could feel the stunned disbelief emanating from the crowd; rumors had gotten around the past month, but for most of them, this was the first real confirmation.

"Teammate? I have no need for useless people like those two," the dark-haired boy retorted, leaving the onlookers shocked at his callousness.

"That's where you're wrong, and I'm going to prove it to you here and now. Genma-san, would you please?" he addressed the man, piercing blue eyes not leaving the Uchiha's face for an instant.

So the boy did know his name. "Third match: Uzumaki Naruto versus Uchiha Sasuke, begin!" the jonin announced and prepared to watch a fight unlike any he had ever seen.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sasuke still clearly remembered his opponent from their time in the academy, Naruto the screwup idiot, couldn't even do a simple bunshin, always boasting about how he'd become Hokage, and taijutsu so sloppy Mizuki had kept him out of spars for fear of injuring himself. And while the short blonde had to have grown somewhat in the past half a year to be able to make it this far, so had the Uchiha.

He'd end this fast, saving his chakra for the upcoming matches. Not even bothering to activate his Sharingan, the dark-haired boy rushed in straight away with the speed he'd gained over the past month. The orange eyesore didn't even have time to move as a fist came around to his temple in a knockout punch.

But the satisfying feeling of knuckles meeting skull never came. Instead, Sasuke found himself hurtling headfirst towards the arena wall, with no idea how he'd gotten there. He quickly flipped around so he'd hit feet-first, channeling a bit of chakra to his legs to reinforce them. Even still, the impact stung badly, and his feet sunk into the cement an inch or so, leaving behind a pair of sandal-shaped indentations.

Naruto hadn't moved from his starting position, only turning to face him. "If that's all you've got, you should just quit," he taunted.

Taking a deep, calming breath, the last Uchha activated his bloodline, the world around him slowing to a crawl. He came in again, faster this time, with a powerful kick from his right leg at the blonde's side. Fast, too fast, his opponent's left hand shot out and wrapped around his ankle in a grip like steel, instantly halting the attack. Then his right shot out in a fist, too quickly for Sasuke to react aside from simple chakra reinforcement, and slammed into his stomach. His body bent double over the punch, and he found himself flying for the second time in fifteen seconds.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the young genin used chakra to stick to the earth and kill his momentum, though he still slid a few feet. "What the hell?" he gasped out under his breath, not able to believe he was being so casually brushed aside by _Naruto_ of all people.

"Stop thinking of me as the idiot I was back at the Academy and _fight me,_" the orange-clad ninja told him. Sasuke gritted his teeth in rage as piercing blue eyes stared at him unblinkingly, taunting him.

His hands sped through the seal sequence he'd learned by heart at age six.

**"Katon: goukakyuu no jutsu"**

The massive fireball soared straight at the blonde, who made no move to dodge, and it exploded on contact, engulfing the center of the arena in smoke. When it cleared, his opponent was completely unharmed and hadn't shifted an inch, his body coated in a thick stone armor.

Sasuke threw some shuriken as a distraction, watching as they bounced off harmlessly. While the weapons were still flying through the air, his fingers moved deftly inside his weapon pouch, wrapping three kunai hilts with exploding tags. The idiot wouldn't be able to just shrug _this_ off.

The deadly trio of weapons sliced through the air, their paper seals burning down to the inevitable explosion. Naruto made a single graceful leap, launching himself high into the air, and the Uchiha had to jump back quickly on realizing that his opponent's trajectory would have him come crashing down right where he was standing.

Sure enough, the shorter boy hit the earth with a powerful axe kick, the force so great from all the additional mass that it cracked the ground. Sasuke realized he'd be best off avoiding reckless close combat; even with his Sharingan, it wasn't guaranteed that he could dodge everything, and he couldn't afford to take another hit, his stomach already groaning in pain at every movement.

So what if the blonde wanted to hide behind some doton jutsu? He had a perfect solution for that.

This fight was far from over.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kiba hurried towards the contestant box, not wanting to miss any more of his teammate's match. And while he was undeniably curious as to why two unconscious Grass nins had been rushed past him on stretchers, watching Naruto put that Uchiha bastard in his place rated much higher on his list of things to do. He could already hear the sounds of fighting from up ahead.

Arriving just in time to see Sasuke fire a bolt of lightning from his hand at the blonde, he took the empty spot next to Ino.

"He hasn't even bothered to use clones yet," she informed him, as the shorter of the two fighters blurred through handseals, the concentrated electricity dissipating harmlessly against a barrier of wind. Seeing this, the dark-haired combatant launched several small fireballs, but a few quick seals later and a small rock wall sprang up right in their path.

The wall then exploded outwards when its creator struck it with a devastating palm thrust, leaving the red-eyed shinobi busy dodging flying debris. "Y'know," Naruto commented, casually dodging his opponent's retaliatory shuriken with slight shifts of his body, "when I transferred to Iruka-sensei's class, you were the first person I really noticed. You were always so alone, I thought maybe we could be friends..." The three shuriken rapidly circled around his body, wrapping him tightly in the cords of ninja wire looped through their holes. "But you just never wanted anything to do with anyone else, so I didn't know what to say to you," the blonde finished, effortlessly freeing himself just as white-hot flame shot down the wires; Kiba had no idea if he'd used wind chakra or sheer brute force to do it.

In the brief quiet that followed, the Inuzuka heard the sharp, rapid clacking of claws on cement as Akamaru ran up to him from behind before jumping up on top of the boy's head. "Hey, boy. So Onee-chan got you all fixed up?"

His partner's small white head bent down in front of his eyes, "Arf! Rrff! /_I'm all better. What did I miss?_/

"Not much," the Inuzuka answered. "Naruto's got the bastard completely shut down, and he's just talkin' to him."

"/_Talking? Why?_/" the puppy whined.

Kiba looked at him in confusion for a moment before remembering, "Oh yeah, you weren't there. The knucklehead decided that just poundin' him into a bloody pulp wouldn't help anyone, so instead he's working to get through to him, show him how the way he treats people is wrong."

The white-furred canine gave the dog equivalent of a laugh. "/_Somehow, I'm not surprised._/"

While the two were conversing, the battle below had continued on, Sasuke attacking furiously but failing to even come close to touching the shorter ninja. His katons were blocked by dotons, raitons instantly rendered useless by fuutons, and any attempts to connect with taijutsu or weapons were brushed off with contemptuous ease.

"Why d'you do it, reject everyone?" the blonde asked. "Are you just too afraid of losing someone again, or do you actually think you _deserve_ to live with that pain all the time? Because no one deserves that."

Next to the Inuzuka, Ino let out a quiet gasp of surprise. "What is it?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"The past few weeks, Naruto's been asking me for some help learning basic psychology. I guess I know why," the kunoichi answered at the same low volume.

"What the hell are you talking about, idiot?" the Uchiha shouted.

"Loneliness," his opponent replied simply, deep blue eyes taking on that piercing quality that made you wonder if he couldn't actually see your very soul. "I know what kind of hell it can be, when you have no one, so I want t'know: why do you keep choosing to close yourself off?"

Kiba felt an intense but quiet, for lack of a better word, killing intent begin to radiate from Sabaku no Gaara, bad enough that he flinched and Akamaru let out a small whimper.

There were several seconds of near-total silence, Sasuke's heavy breathing the only sound. The audience was completely riveted by what was going on before them; calling it a fight didn't quite work, seeing as Naruto wasn't actually fighting.

"I don't need to hear this!" the raven-haired boy screamed, "Shut up!"

"Make me," was the blonde's only response.

The Uchiha heir resumed his assault, only with considerably less finesse than he had shown previously.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kakashi found his attention almost fully absorbed by the match on the arena floor, though perhaps not for the same reasons as most of the spectators. It was both stunning and humbling to see Naruto's simple empathy and direct manner breaking straight through the young Uchiha's blindly arrogant mindset, when everything he himself had tried had failed to even scratch the surface.

"Damn it! I can't lose here!" his student raged.

"Why?" Sensei's son responded calmly. "Because you need to kill Itachi?" His opponent's inarticulate roar of anger and blind frontal charge, a kunai gripped tightly in his right hand, served just as well as any answer.

The experienced ninja made a mental note to scold the boy for this total lack of strategy and common sense, assuming he kept him as a student.

"The way you're going right now, that's impossible," the orange-clad shinobi advised as he grabbed the elbow of the arm holding the weapon, before easily tossing the taller youth aside like a rag-doll.

The jonin would admit to having had his concerns when Jiraiya-sama had shown up early on in the month break, all but ordering him to make Sasuke as strong as he could in the available time, that it wouldn't affect the outcome of the match in the slightest. But watching Naruto stop his opponent's every attempt to attack without even seeming to try, he felt he understood what the legendary ninja was thinking. The stronger the Uchiha avenger felt going into the match, the more humiliated he would feel at being so obviously outclassed, and the more open he would become to the other's verbal assault.

And the blonde most certainly had him outclassed. From what the silver-haired man's eye and other senses were telling him, the boy was capable of fighting at a level that would give some of the weaker jonin a run for their money, at least in direct combat. It was astounding to see, especially when compared to his academy records, barely more than half a year old.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand!" Sasuke roared, flecks of spittle flying from his mouth, before launching a dozen small fireballs with the hosenka no jutsu.

Naruto reacted by forming the iwa no yoroi (stone armor) around just his right hand, then using that hand to lazily bat away each individual ball of flame, before taking a small step to the side to avoid the follow-up rakurai (lightning bolt). "I think I do understand, at least a little. What it's like to hate someone so much you want to make them suffer for an eternity before permanently erasing any sign of their existence, but you can't because they're so much stronger than you that trying would end with you dead or worse." Hearing that, Kakashi found himself wondering just who it was the forgiving boy could possibly hold so much hate for.

"I've got no problem with you wanting to kill the bastard; from what I know, he deserves everything you can think of and then some," Minato-sensei's son continued, "It's just that you're acting like you have to do it all by yourself."

"Enough of your nonsense!" the Uchiha screamed, trying to ignore the blonde's words even as a part of him no doubt saw the truth in them. "Fight me already!"

"Fight you? Ha. The way you are now, you're too pathetic to be worth my time." Naruto replied, knowing exactly what to say to enrage the other boy beyond all reason.

This time, instead of the wild attacks he had been throwing out previously, Sasuke leapt up to the arena wall and scaled it almost to the very top. The silver-haired jonin frowned, instantly recognizing when the young ninja started the handseals for chidori.

The orange-clad jinchuuriki didn't let him finish, forming a single kage bunshin at the base of the wall, which ran right up to him and pulled his hands apart in the time most people took to blink. "Ah, ah, ah," the clone admonished, as if telling off a naughty child, "you're not supposed to be using that one, are you?"

Hmm, seeing as his student didn't actually complete the jutsu, plus the fact that the blonde had clearly been goading him into using it, Kakashi decided not to go through on the punishment he'd laid out for using the assassination technique without permission. Well, maybe; it would depend on how the boy reacted once the match was all over.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was about time to bring this whole thing to a close, Naruto mused as his kage bunshin's perspective of the last few seconds entered his head, the clone having been dispelled by a headbutt, his purpose accomplished. The next time Sasuke came in close, he'd finish it.

The red-eyed genin had returned to the ground and was now standing still in a slight crouch, arms crossed in front of his head... Wait, that stance...

Why that thieving _bastard_! The moment he realized what was going on, the blonde rushed forward, intent on stopping the other boy even as his skin began to darken and his chakra levels skyrocketed, the energy forming a blue aura around his body. He was just milliseconds too slow.

"**Seimon: kai!"**

Honestly, he was a bit surprised at how little the punch hurt. Sure it'd cracked a rib or two, and he'd flown across the arena to form a Naruto-shaped crater in the far wall, but it wasn't quite as bad as when Jiraiya got a good hit in, and nowhere near the speed and power Fuzzy-brows could unleash with three gates open.

Then again, hadn't Gai-sensei once said something about the effects of the Gates being proportional to the user's overall physical condition, or something like that? And while Sasuke was of course in peak shape, being a ninja, people like the Green Beasts took it to a whole new level. Plus, whatever training the Uchiha had done over the past month, it had to have been in secret, meaning he still wasn't used to the power boost.

Of course, finally getting a hit in had made his smug superiority resurface. "Still not worth your time?"

"You're an idiot, Sasuke," the blonde replied as he dusted himself off, going with his usual plan for when something unexpected happened: saying and doing the first thing that came to his head, "I barely felt that."

Judging by that first punch, his opponent was a tiny tad faster than him, but not quite as strong. So basically, it would be like fighting Lee, albeit a vicious Lee with no stamina who wasn't used to high-speed combat (while his eyes and body could no doubt keep up, his mind wouldn't be able to do the same) and who he had to be careful not to hurt very badly at the risk of causing permanent damage. Another downside of the Eight Gates no one really paid attention to was that the body was especially vulnerable while they were active, though the damage wouldn't really register untill afterwards. He'd need some way to hit the Uchiha without actually hitting him.

Both fighters dashed forward, Naruto moving at full speed for the first time during the match. The distance between them shrinking rapidly, he remembered a trick Jiraiya had taught him (he might hate him as a person, but the man was still an amazing ninja) that would work perfectly here, assuming Sasuke stayed true to form. As they closed, the blonde cocked back his right fist for a straight punch to the face, and sure enough, his opponent did the same.

At the last instant, the orange-clad ninja switched, instead dropping into a low crouch, his momentum keeping him sliding forward. Then he thrust upward and slightly outward with his left palm, straight into the black-haired boy's midsection, twisting to add as much force as possible to the strike. Only instead of actually connecting, he slowed his attack the instant before it hit, letting the built-up wave of air pressure lift the Uchiha off his feet. He didn't stop there of course, following through with the maneuver until his arm was fully extended and knees just slightly bent.

The end result was the satisfying sight of Sasuke soaring over a dozen meters up into the air, to the point where he was actually level with the lowest members of the crowd, before returning to the earth, landing hard on his back, unharmed but in no condition to move, his lack of experience with the Gates having made them close back up early in his flight. Naruto walked over to the prone boy and looked down at him, coal-black eyes staring back up in a mixture of disbelief and fear.

"H-how?" the Uchiha croaked out, "You were... a failure..."

"You're right, I _was _a failure. So what changed?" He saw surprise and curiosity mix in with the other emotions. "The only thing different about the me now from the me at the academy is that I stopped trying to go it alone.

"I found friends, people I care about and who care about me in return. We help each other and grow together. If I'd kept on trying to do everything by myself, I probably wouldn't be breathing, and I definitely wouldn't be here.

"My strength, the strength that beat you, it's something I gained for the sake of my friends. True power comes from the desire to protect those who are precious to you. If one work towards their goals with them in mind, they'll achieve things they would've never thought possible.

"You should try it sometime," he finished, offering the confused boy a sincere smile before looking up, not giving him time to answer. "Proctor, it's over."

After taking a moment to remember that, yes, he had a job to do, the toothpick-chewing jonin announced him the winner. The crowd cheered, roared his name and, while it was nice to hear, the sound paled in comparison to the glimmering wetness he had seen in Sasuke's eyes the instant before he had looked away.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru was seething.

He showed no outward sign of it, of course, but on the inside, he was about ready to explode with rage. Only the thought of what would happen before the sun set was enough to keep him from throwing all his plans to the winds and just stabbing the old fool sitting next to him _right now_.

The Sasuke-kun he had met in the forest would have gladly left this pathetic village, even without the cursed seal. But after this... He had been watching the boy throughout the match, seeing how the Kyuubi brat's words had affected him.

No, the Sharingan would no longer come to him willingly, and it was all that damn Kyuubi brat's fault!

Unless... Yes, _that_ might work. He would need time to plan and prepare, but Sasuke-kun's body would still be his.

"Kazekage-dono, is everything all right?" Sarutobi-sensei jarred him from his plans, "You appeared quite upset about something."

Damn you Sensei and your damn perceptiveness! "It is nothing," he responded calmly from behind his disguise, "The match merely reminded me of some troubles back home."

"Oh? Then perhaps you should have stayed to resolve the issues," the old monkey observed.

The snake Sannin waved the man off, "No, no. One week of absence will not cause any harm. Besides, the candidates this year all seem quite promising. This next match especially, I have been quite looking forward to."

"Indeed," the aged leader replied, "Your son Gaara against a budding young taijutsu enthusiast. It should be quite the interesting battle."

Oh, you have no idea, Sarutobi-sensei, no idea at all.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

comments:

Well I certainly got this chapter finished faster than the last one. Also unlike last time, I feel quite satisfied with it. I'd originally hoped to make it longer, but all my attempts to do so just felt like I was adding more for the sake of adding more.

Anyway, I'm sure most of you have been waiting for this chapter quite a while now, so I hope I didn't disappoint.

Those two Grass ninjas at the beginning are some of the more often-forgotten characters in fanfiction, probably because they don't really do anything besides get crushed by Gaara. I decided to bring them in because a) they allow for a bit of humor to start off the chapter b) nothing I've changed would really affect their presence and c) I felt like it.

I didn't really want to do another scene with Genma, since he's such a minor character, and he just had one last chapter, but there really wasn't any good way to avoid it while still keeping the same feel to the opening section.

The whole thing I had Sasuke mention, about Naruto transferring academy classes, if you look back to the flashback during the Naruto-Kiba fight, they mention that it's his third year at the Academy, yet he's new in Iruka's class. Presumably, his two failed graduations prior to the start of canon were those first two years.

And of course Naruto's words to Sasuke would have some effect on Gaara as well, though that's one thing that feels sort of thrown in there, even if it makes sense. Since this chapter isn't really about Gaara, bringing him up so suddenly is a bit weird, but it felt weirder to just ignore him.

As for jutsu usage, I got tired of labeling, bolding, and splitting off each instance. Sometimes it's good, but others it breaks up the flow of the writing too much. Translations for japanese names will always follow immediately in parentheses like I've been doing (excluding the common canon ones of course), as I don't like forcing my readers to scroll all over the place while reading; just expect more that are unnamed or have the name inserted into a sentence, like I did in this chapter.

The fight was a lot of fun to write, because not only is it a fight between Naruto and Sasuke, I also had to take into account how Naruto could get through to a power-obsessed, revenge-consumed, budding psychopath, what sorts of things he'd say, how he'd act, etc.

And if anyone is wondering who it is Naruto hates, it shouldn't be hard to guess. There's only one character in the story so far whom he has reason to detest so fully with every fiber of his being.

Then of course I had to conclude with Orochimaru, since he offers such a perfect foreshadowing for what we all know is coming up (hint: it's the invasion).

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.


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